Sweet fruit season under Eagle Mountain

"Today, at the foot of that mountain, Mong households conquer the rocky mountain, turning the slopes into pear and plum gardens full of fruit, helping to make life more prosperous" - Mr. Giang A Su, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Can Cau commune, talked and took us to visit the land at the foot of Dai Bang mountain.

After 3 days of hard work, the pine hut next to the rammed earth house of Mr. Giang A De's family, Mu Trang Phin village, Can Cau commune, was built. The house is located right at the foot of a towering rocky mountain. Sitting here, you can sip a cup of ancient tea, admire the pear garden laden with fruit nearby, and enjoy the panoramic view of the valley below and the center of Can Cau commune in the distance, hidden in the beautiful mist and clouds. Mr. De said that he was born in this land, so a few years ago he had the idea of returning here to build a small peaceful house, grow fruit trees, and occasionally welcome guests to visit and experience.

Compared to other villages of Can Cau commune, Mu Trang Phin is only about 3 km from the commune center, but the terrain has many steep slopes, not much productive land, in return, nature has favored it with a cool climate and poetic scenery. In particular, right at the foot of Dai Bang mountain, there is a fairly large and flat area of land, which was previously only left for wild grass and weeds. 7 years ago, Giang Seo De discussed with his wife to clear the grass and weeds, level the land into steps, and then buy 200 Tai nung pear seedlings to plant. Suitable for the climate and soil, the pear trees grow very quickly, and by the third year they have borne fruit. The Tai nung pears planted under Dai Bang mountain are all large, plump, with thin skin and a sweet taste. Excited about the good pear crop, Giang A De planted 400 more pear trees, turning this place into a lush green pear garden.

Taking us to visit the pear garden that is in the season of heavy fruit, ready to harvest, Giang A De smiled: "Last year's pear crop, my family harvested 2.5 tons of pears, selling for about 80 million VND. Even more exciting is that many locals and tourists came to the pear garden to visit and experience. This year, the pear garden is expected to harvest about 3 tons of fruit. Recently, my family has renovated the space in the direction of an ecological pear garden, built convenient roads up and down, and built a viewing hut for tourists to visit and experience picking pears in the garden."

Also located at the foot of Dai Bang mountain but right next to the village road towards the negative slope is the sloping land of the family of Mr. Giang A Su, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Can Cau commune. Looking back from afar, the land is not impressive because there is only the green color of the trees. In May, when the summer showers fall, the trees are lush, everywhere in this area there are plum trees with green leaves like that.

However, when Giang A Su took us down to visit the garden, we were so surprised because up close, every plum tree was laden with fruit. The plums were as big as a thumb, with dark green skin, mixed with the color of the leaves, and could not be seen from afar. There were plum trees only taller than a person, but from the base of the tree to the tips of the branches, everywhere were full of fruit growing together.

Having been to the Si Ma Cai highlands many times, I learned that this land is the land of plums. Plum trees have a strong vitality, are suitable for the sloping terrain, and can withstand the aridity of the land, so they are easy to grow and produce a lot of fruit. There are many different varieties of plums in Si Ma Cai, but the most famous and delicious are Tam Hoa plums, Ta Van plums, and Hau plums. Some local plum varieties, although bearing a lot of fruit, have low economic value because of their sour taste and few people like to eat them.

I asked what kind of plum is this that bears so much fruit? Mr. Giang A Su “revealed”: My garden grows local plums but they are special plums, when ripe the fruit is as big as Tam Hoa plums, the green skin turns shiny yellow, the flesh is yellow, very crispy and sweet. It is worth mentioning that currently only Mr. Su and some households in Mu Trang Phin village still grow this plum variety, not elsewhere.

“When I was a child, there were ancient plum trees in the village that bore heavy fruits, which were fragrant and sweet. People called them “seng sui”, which means “7 crispy”. Later, the old plum trees died, and people did not pay attention to planting more, so this plum variety almost became extinct. Luckily, there was an ancient plum tree left in my garden. Not wanting to lose the precious plum variety, I grafted and grew some trees in the garden. In 2015, I continued to graft more than 100 trees and planted them in the land under Dai Bang mountain. In 2023, the trees bore a lot of fruit, my family harvested nearly 3 tons, and sold them for 80 million VND,” said Mr. Su.

In the story about preserving the precious plum variety, Mr. Su said that his family spent a lot of effort planting and caring for it, but in the first 6 years the tree did not bear fruit, or bore little fruit. He thought he had failed, all his hopes were dashed, and he was so sad that he could not tell. There were times when he was discouraged and wanted to cut down the tree to plant pears or Tam Hoa plums, but he felt so sorry that he could not bear it. However, in the 7th year, the tree repaid its debt, bearing more fruit, the fruit was crispy and sweet. What is special is that this plum variety ripens later than Tam Hoa plums, it is not harvested until July, so it is very easy to sell. Mr. Su is continuing to propagate the "7 crispy" variety to provide for people in the village to plant together.

Wandering around Mu Trang Phin village these days, we were surprised to get lost in the sweet fruit area at the foot of Dai Bang mountain. In mid-June, Tam Hoa plums and Ta Van plums were ripe and at the end of the season, but Tai Nung pears were starting to ripen in the garden. Giang A Su took us to visit the Tai Nung pear gardens of some households in the village.

Standing in the middle of a pear garden laden with fruit, Mr. Ly A Van, Secretary of the Party Cell of Mu Trang Phin village, smiled: The whole village currently has 50 hectares of pears and 30 hectares of Ta Van plums. Last year's crop, the families of Mr. Ly A Lu, Ly A Qua, Giang A So, Giang A Cho, Cu A Xeng, Cu A Lu... sold pears for 50 million to 100 million VND. In 2023, the village reduced the number of poor households by 5 thanks to pear and plum trees. The families of Ly A Qua and Giang A So used to be very poor, but thanks to the pear garden providing income, they have now escaped poverty.

Learning more about Mu Trang Phin village, we learned that the village has 130 households, all of whom are Mong people, living in 3 residential areas. In recent years, along with growing corn and rice, many households have actively switched to growing fruit trees and purple cardamom. In 2023, the total revenue from fruit trees and purple cardamom of the villagers reached more than 3 billion VND. Living standards have improved, more than 20 households have built spacious houses, each house worth about 400 - 500 million VND...

When saying goodbye to me at the foot of Dai Bang Mountain, Mr. Giang A Su said that although the life of the Mong people in Mu Trang Phin has become more prosperous, the village still faces many difficulties because there are still more than 50 poor and near-poor households. In the coming time, the local Party Committee and government will continue to propagate and mobilize people to boldly change the structure of crops and livestock, focusing on developing Tai Nung pear trees and "7 crispy" plum trees, turning the land at the foot of Dai Bang Mountain into a sweet fruit area, combined with the development of eco-tourism to help people sustainably reduce poverty.

Presented by: Hoang Thu

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