Many Buddha's hand gardens in Dac So commune (Hoai Duc) have won big in terms of prices, but many gardens are still "sitting on hot coals" as traders are indifferent.
Many Buddha's hand gardens in Dac So commune (Hoai Duc) have won big in terms of prices, but many gardens are still "sitting on hot coals" as traders are indifferent.
Dac So Commune (Hoai Duc, Hanoi) is known as a famous locality for growing Buddha's hand. The whole commune has more than 500 households growing with a total area of about 350 hectares. In addition to some cultivated areas in the locality, Dac So people go to all communes of Hoai Duc, Dan Phuong, Phuc Tho, Ba Vi districts; Yen Lac district (Vinh Phuc) ... to cultivate. Every year, Buddha's hand growing brings in hundreds of billions of VND in revenue for the people here.
The impact of storms and fungal diseases has caused many Buddha's hand fruits to look ugly and be difficult to sell fresh. Photo: Trung Quan.
Normally, the time before Lunar New Year is a time of excitement, enthusiasm, and hard work in the joy of having a full wallet for Dac So Buddha's hand growers. However, this year, the sadness and anxiety of the garden owners dominates.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tuyen, Son Ha village, said that the gloomy atmosphere is different from every year in the Buddha's hand gardens because most of the planting areas of the people in the commune, especially the areas that Dac So people rented to grow in the area adjacent to the Red River, have been severely damaged, even completely lost due to the impact of storm No. 3 and floods.
The lucky households that can keep their trees and harvest fruit are those that grow on high ground, but these numbers can be counted on the fingers of one hand. However, strong storm winds cause the trees to shake, seriously affecting the roots, creating opportunities for rust and fungus to spread, forcing households to spend a lot of labor and money on prevention.
Not only that, the storm caused all the first batch of Buddha's hand fruits of the year (according to experience, this is the most beautiful batch) to be hit hard and scratched. The number of fruits that could be kept fresh for Tet was very small because the appearance was affected, most of them had to be switched to selling dried products for export to China.
According to Mr. Vuong Tri Giang, Dac So commune, Buddha's hand growers have never faced as many difficulties as this year. Photo: Trung Quan.
“Fresh Buddha’s hand fruit is a meaningful product line displayed during Tet, so there is no fixed selling price. However, due to the nature of the tree being picky about the soil and difficult to care for, the selling price is always maintained at a relatively high level of 40,000 - 60,000 VND/fruit. Some special fruits, when meeting passionate customers, can even cost up to hundreds of thousands of VND. Thus, it can be seen that this year the supply is limited, those households that can keep the tree will certainly win big, while those households that are unlucky will suffer significant economic losses,” Mr. Tuyen assessed.
Returning to the land along the Red River running along the communes of Hong Ha, Trung Chau, Tho An (Dan Phuong district), it is not difficult to see the sad faces and sighs of Buddha's hand garden owners, who are Dac So people who rent land to grow plants here.
Mr. Vuong Tri Giang sadly shared that the alluvial land along the Red River has ideal conditions for Buddha's hand to grow. In recent years, it has become a reliable address for traders from near and far to come to "buy goods" during holidays and Tet. People in the area have more jobs with good income when they are hired to take care of Buddha's hand. However, that bright picture has become dark since the great flood caused by storm No. 3 passed.
Lucky Buddha's hand orchards that have kept the fruit are currently winning big in terms of selling prices. Photo: Trung Quan.
All 400 Buddha's hand trees of his family were submerged by dirty water. When the water receded, he quickly found every way to restore them and was lucky to keep the fruit in time to sell during Tet.
Unfortunately, most of the trees in the garden have affected roots, poor nutrient absorption, leaves gradually turn yellow, wither, not strong enough to support fruit for a long time. Meanwhile, many traders have visited the garden but all give countless reasons to lower the price. It is a waste of effort and money not to sell because the fruit will spoil if left for a long time, and if sold, the family will suffer double losses.
“Never before has there been such a difficult year as this year. All the trees after harvesting had to be replaced with new ones. I had to ask for a delay in paying the workers, beg the landowner to reduce the rental price; when I contacted the seller to sell dried products, the price was not good, and when I sold display products for Tet, the traders were hesitant and forced the price down,” Mr. Giang lamented.
As one of the few lucky households that can maintain a Buddha's hand garden, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, from Dac So commune, rented land to grow more than 300 trees in Yen Thai village, Tien Yen commune (Hoai Duc). She said that Buddha's hand trees have a cluster of roots that only grow 40 - 50cm deep, preferring sandy soil (riverside areas) that is rich in nutrients, has good drainage and a pH of 5.5 - 6.5.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, Dac So commune, due to limited supply, the selling price of fresh Buddha's hand fruit is currently many times higher than in previous years. Photo: Trung Quan.
In particular, the land that has been planted with Buddha's hand, lemon, grapefruit will have poor growth when planting a new batch of Buddha's hand. Therefore, after a tree's life cycle (about 5-6 years), growers must move to find new land to cultivate to ensure efficiency.
Although this year the care is more difficult than usual, Ms. Hoa’s family is luckier than many other families because they do not have to celebrate Tet empty-handed. Currently, traders from all over have come to visit the garden and ordered all the fruit at prices 10,000-20,000 VND higher than usual.
Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/nguoi-trong-phat-thu-vui-buon-lan-lon-d417591.html
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