"Black gold" of the mountainous region
These days, when black plums begin to ripen, farmers are busy harvesting the fruit to sell to the market. Unlike the bustling scene of traders' vehicles going to the localities to buy black plums, this year the black plum output has decreased sharply, many families have nothing to sell, and traders rarely come to buy, causing people to be in trouble.
Huong Son District, Ha Tinh Province is considered the capital of black star apple trees in Ha Tinh. Currently, the black star apple trees are starting to ripen. Photo: PV
Black star fruit is grown a lot in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province. Black star fruit is a woody tree, when mature it is 10-30m tall, suitable for the soil and climate in Huong Son district (Ha Tinh), producing large, dark purple fruit, with a characteristic rich, fatty, and creamy flavor, so it is chosen by many families to grow.
Black Melaleuca is a large tree that takes more than 10 years to produce fruit. Photo: PV
In the past, the canarium tree had little value. At harvest time, many places had black canarium fruits falling from the ground, but no one picked them up. Many poor families used to preserve the fruit by salting it to eat throughout the year.
In recent years, when the area for growing black plums has shrunk, the price of this fruit has suddenly increased to 130,000 - 150,000 VND/kg. In addition to its economic value, black plums also have culinary and medicinal value with a fairly high nutritional source, and are considered by people as "black gold" to help farmers in Huong Son district increase their income.
Huong Son black plum, Ha Tinh has large, dark purple fruit, with a rich, fatty, characteristic flavor, so it is well received by the market, the price sometimes reaches 150,000 VND/kg. Photo: PV
In Son Ninh commune (Huong Son district), there are about 500 black canarium trees planted by nearly 100 households. Mr. Le Ngoc Huan - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Son Ninh commune said: "Son Ninh is the locality that grows the most black canarium trees in the district, this is a perennial tree that brings the best economic benefits to the locality.
Considered “black gold” because it brings high income, many people in Huong Son district grow black canarium in their gardens. Photo: PV
Farmers "distorted" because of crop failure
On average, each household growing canarium earns about 20-25 million VND per year, with some households growing a lot earning 80 million VND per year. However, this year, due to the hot weather, canarium productivity has dropped sharply, reaching only about 30-40% of the output compared to previous years. There are families whose canarium trees do not bear fruit, and we have never seen such a large canarium crop failure as we do now.
This year, the black plum crop failed severely, causing farmers in Huong Son district to lose their crops. Photo: PV
Looking at his family's canarium trees, Mr. Nguyen Van Han (residing in Ta Son village, Son Ninh commune) said: "This is the main harvest season of black canarium fruits. In previous years, traders were always busy running around the village to buy them. However, this year, the fruit yield has seriously decreased, and traders are not interested in buying. Last year, the income from 7 canarium trees was more than 10 million, but this year it is only 4 million."
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Han, residing in Huong Son district, there has never been a year with a poor harvest like this year, and some trees even do not bear fruit. Photo: PV
Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh's family (residing in Son Ninh commune, Huong Son) said: "My family has 8 old black canarium trees, previously each tree yielded an average of nearly 100kg of fruit/year, with a total income of about 35 million/year. This year, due to the influence of the weather, the trees yielded very little fruit, and because of the low yield, it is difficult to find traders to buy. If we sell the whole garden, we will only earn 1-2 million VND. My family considers this year's canarium season to be a total loss."
The family of Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh, residing in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh, "lost everything" of this year's canarium fruit season. Photo: PV
Although the output has decreased sharply, the price of canarium has not increased much. The average price in 2023 was 110,000 - 130,000 VND/kg, this year it has only "increased" by about 150,000 VND/kg. With this selling price, canarium growers in Huong Son district still suffer losses.
Black canarium is a natural perennial plant of the locality, it takes more than 10 years to generate income. The tree requires little care and mostly depends on nature, so currently canarium growers have no solution to overcome the situation of crop failure of "black gold". Photo: PV.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien (residing in Son Ninh commune) said: "In previous years, my family hired people to pick canarium fruits at a cost of 1 million VND/day. However, this year if we continue to do so, the money from selling canarium fruits will not be enough to pay the workers, so my family will harvest directly."
Due to the poor yield of black canarium, this year, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hien and her husband harvested the fruit themselves without hiring anyone like previous years. Photo: PV
Ms. Hien's husband, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hoanh (51 years old), will climb up a tall canarium tree and use a bamboo pole over 10m long, with a sickle attached to the front, to hook branches with fallen fruit to the ground. On the ground, Ms. Hien uses a basket to collect canarium.
The "spider man" job of harvesting canarium fruit with an income of 1 million VND/day, now suddenly lost revenue. Photo: PV
“Every year during the black plum season, we hire people to go to the plum gardens of the commune to buy raw materials to process into salted plum and dried plum products. Last year, my facility bought about 8 tons of plum from the people, this year due to a bad harvest, we are only estimated to buy 2.5 tons.
Currently, there are many orders for canarium products, but I am afraid that there will not be enough raw materials. We try to buy quality canarium products to maintain our processing facility," said Ms. Dang Thi Khanh Ly - owner of Hung Ly black canarium processing facility in Tra Son village, Son Ninh commune.
According to Ms. Dang Thi Khanh Ly (left, a black star apple buyer), this year the amount of star apples that the facility purchased is estimated to be only 1/3 compared to last year. Photo: PV
Kim Hoa Commune, Huong Son District, Ha Tinh is also a locality with a large number of black canarium trees in Huong Son District with over 400 trees, distributed in 20 villages. Of which, the most are in the villages: Chau Lam, Hong Thuy, Trung Hoa, Hoi Son. This is the harvest season but according to the people, this year's output has decreased sharply compared to 2023.
According to Mr. Le Van Kinh, residing in Kim Hoa commune, Huong Son district, Ha Tinh, on average each year his family earns more than 10 million from selling black plums, but this year they lost revenue and only sold 3 million VND. Photo: PV
Talking to Dan Viet reporter, Mr. Tran Quang Hoa, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Huong Son district said: "Canarium is a typical fruit of Huong Son district, currently distributed in many communes such as Son Ninh, Son Bang, Son Tien, Son Phu, Kim Hoa, An Hoa Thinh...
Black star fruit crop failure makes people in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh less happy. Photo: PV
Black star apple is not the main economic tree of the district. However, it still provides a large source of income, contributing to promoting the local economy. This year, star apple growers have had a bad harvest, which has significantly affected their income. This is a native tree species, and after decades of planting, it can be harvested. People do not take much care of it, so they rely on nature.
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