Dak Nong farmers eat and sleep with durian

Eat and sleep with durian

These days, visiting the large durian growing areas of Dak Nong, everywhere you go you hear stories of farmers slowing down the growth of durian buds, flowers, and fruits.

In some places, every early morning, households in the same growing area gather over a cup of tea or coffee to exchange experiences on techniques for caring for and growing durian before going to the garden.

Farmers in Nhan Co commune, Dak R'lap district (Dak Nong) focus on investing in organic durian development to meet export demand.

Mr. Phan Van Luyen's family in Dak Nia commune, Gia Nghia city (Dak Nong) has more than 3 hectares of durian intercropped with coffee. For more than a month now, Gia Nghia's weather has been quite ideal for durian pollination.

However, due to hot and humid conditions, some pests and insects also appear in the garden. Therefore, Mr. Luyen's family is almost on duty day and night in the durian garden.

Mr. Luyen said: “After 4 years of working with durian trees, I have realized that no other crop requires such hard work and hardship. We eat and sleep with durian trees. To make durian bear fruit, reach size and export quality, I have almost no time to rest.”

According to Mr. Luyen, after the harvest, the gardeners immediately roll up their sleeves to take care of the durian garden so that it can recover. Every 5-10 days, they spray foliar fertilizer and fungicides to prevent diseases and pests. When the durian flowers bloom, they have to pollinate each cluster of flowers until dark.

According to Mr. Phan Van Luyen in Dak Nia commune, Gia Nghia city (Dak Nong), growing durian also requires "standing up" because the care process is quite complicated and difficult.

Not to mention, during this period, harmful insects and aphids such as red spiders, mealybugs, root and trunk fungi often appear. "We almost live and eat with the durian garden. If we are just a little careless and the durian tree gets sick and the young fruit falls off, it is considered a loss."

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan in Quang Khe commune, Dak Glong district, through experience in care, the phenomenon of durian dropping young fruit has many causes.

To make her family’s 1.5-hectare durian garden more effective, Ms. Lan hired an experienced engineer to take care of the garden. Every 5-7 days, this person comes to the garden to guide Ms. Lan in fertilizing and spraying pesticides to prevent diseases in the durian garden.

Flowering season is when durian growers are nervous and worried because this is the time that decides the whole crop.

According to gardeners, growing durian is always a matter of anxiety and worry, when seeing a leaf turn yellow, a bunch of flowers fall. Unusual phenomena in the garden combined with erratic weather, pests and diseases make growers panic many times.

Developing ecological and sustainable durian

Dak Nong has about 12,000 hectares of durian. Of which, the commercial area is estimated at nearly 4,600 hectares and the total output is nearly 50,000 tons. The province is currently forming specialized areas for growing high-quality durian.

Specialized agencies and sectors are also actively supporting people to synchronously apply technical measures, aiming to develop ecological and sustainable durian growing areas.

People in Truong Xuan commune, Dak Song district (Dak Nong) installed an irrigation system to help maintain humidity in durian gardens.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Chuong, Director of the Agricultural Extension Center - Agricultural and Forestry Seeds of Dak Nong province, the application of scientific and technical advances in the durian cultivation process has been bringing about many results.

In particular, the provincial Department of Agriculture has supported people to widely apply production measures such as: production according to GAP criteria, investment in installing water-saving irrigation systems according to Israeli technology; using preparations and microbial fertilizers in cultivation; applying the method of covering with plastic tarpaulins combined with crop spreading treatment...

Agricultural Extension Department and agricultural enterprises always accompany Dak Nong durian farmers

“Producing durian according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP, organic standards… is a mandatory condition if we want agricultural products to stand firm in the market. This is also a direction to help Dak Nong farmers access solutions to develop ecological and sustainable durian,” Mr. Chuong added.

In 2024, Dak Nong will have 258.3 hectares of durian that meet the standards, with a total output of 1,708 tons. Of which, the area of ​​durian that meets VietGAP standards is 238.3 hectares (accounting for 92.3%), with an output of 1,570 tons. The area of ​​durian that meets organic standards is 20 hectares, with an output of 138 tons.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nong-dan-dak-nong-an-ngu-cung-sau-rieng-249666.html