Sustainable grapefruit development

For a long time, grapefruit trees have been considered a tree with high economic value, helping many households in the province escape poverty and become rich. However, in recent years, grapefruit production and consumption have encountered many difficulties, and prices have decreased compared to before 2020. Therefore, focusing on deep processing and diversifying grapefruit products is an effective solution to increase economic value that the agricultural sector is focusing on implementing.

Grapefruit products have contributed to increasing income and improving the lives of many households in Minh Dai commune, Tan Son district.

Building concentrated grapefruit growing areas

By the end of 2023, the total grapefruit growing area in the province will reach about 5,600 hectares, an increase of 140% compared to 2015, with an average output of about 18,000 tons/year. The province has established 161 concentrated grapefruit growing areas with a total area of ​​2,650 hectares; 162 establishments with a total area of ​​1,742 hectares have been granted growing area codes, of which 144 codes are for domestic consumption and 18 codes are for export. The grapefruit growing area in a safe direction will reach over 3,100 hectares, with nearly 1,000 hectares achieving VietGAP certification...

To date, Phu Tho has had 10 cooperatives and grapefruit production facilities recognized as OCOP, including 2 entities achieving 4-star status, 8 entities achieving 3-star status with a registered output of about 10,000 tons/year. The economic value brought by grapefruit trees reaches an average of over 800 billion VND/year.

In order to diversify grapefruit products in the province, besides the Doan Hung specialty grapefruit variety, the Department of Agriculture and many households have researched and brought many other grapefruit varieties to grow in Phu Tho such as Dien grapefruit with yellow shrimp, Dien grapefruit with green shrimp, Xuan Van, Soi Ha grapefruit, green-skin grapefruit, Tam Van grapefruit (wrinkled leaf sugar), Tan Lac grapefruit...

In fact, due to high economic efficiency, in many localities, people actively expand the area of ​​grapefruit cultivation, causing the grapefruit area to increase sharply. In addition, neighboring provinces such as Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Son La also have policies to strongly develop citrus fruit trees, including grapefruit, which further increases the pressure on consumption. The current grapefruit variety structure is also unbalanced. In addition to the two specialty grapefruit varieties, Bang Luan grapefruit and Suu grapefruit, Dien grapefruit accounts for more than 70% of the remaining grapefruit varieties. At the peak of the harvest, supply exceeds demand, making it difficult to consume the product.

The current situation of spontaneous cutting and grafting of new grapefruit varieties is becoming more and more popular while grapefruit trees are perennial trees, requiring a lot of time to achieve high productivity and quality. New varieties such as wrinkled-leaf grapefruit, Cat Que... are attracting people's attention recently, however, with the current uncontrolled cutting and grafting situation, in the next 3-5 years, when the grafted trees enter the harvest period, it is very easy for products to be harvested en masse at the same time like the current Dien grapefruit variety.

Mr. Nguyen Song Toan - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Doan Hung district said: The economic efficiency of grapefruit trees is very high, convenient for large-scale replication. However, for a long time, people have only paid attention to the consumption stage, not to deep processing and product diversification, so the consumption price is still low. To maintain the grapefruit area and promote efficiency, there must be specific solutions to increase the value of grapefruit trees, creating peace of mind for grapefruit growers to invest in intensive cultivation, improve quality and productivity.

Some products processed from grapefruit of Van Don Grapefruit and Agricultural Services Cooperative are brought to the market, contributing to increasing the value of grapefruit trees.

Improve quality, promote processing and consumption

In recent years, the Provincial People's Committee has directed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to review and develop areas identified as key areas of each locality, thereby focusing resources and human resources to disseminate technical knowledge and market trends, orienting people to confidently develop production, gradually building high-quality raw material areas to serve domestic consumption and export.

The construction of model grapefruit gardens applying synchronous scientific and technical advances in production in recent times has confirmed that intensive farming helps to improve the quality of grapefruit fruit significantly. Technical measures such as pruning branches, helping the garden to be airy, reducing pests and diseases; additional pollination, helping to increase the rate of flower and fruit set; increasing the use of organic fertilizers and micronutrient fertilizers according to a balanced fertilization process, contributing to increasing the health of crops, creating sweetness and aroma, thereby improving the quality of grapefruit fruit.

Recently, in addition to the main product of grapefruit, other products from grapefruit such as peel, pulp, seeds or grapefruits from low-quality young grapefruit gardens can be processed, creating by-products such as grapefruit essential oil, grapefruit jam, grapefruit tea, grapefruit wine... have been researched and put into production by some individuals and cooperatives in the province, considered as a solution to increase income from grapefruit trees. This is a new approach in the province, with great potential for expansion in production because processing facilities do not need to be located in grapefruit areas but can be expanded in districts, cities, towns, near areas with shopping needs, easy access to consumers.

Mr. Dao Manh Dat - Director of Van Don Grapefruit and General Service Cooperative, Van Don Commune, Doan Hung District - one of the pioneers in processing grapefruit products, especially utilizing old grapefruit, young grapefruit... said: "As a grapefruit grower, every year I see a lot of old grapefruit being thrown away, I find it very wasteful. Because I know some places that have successfully researched and processed grapefruit jam, grapefruit essential oil, grapefruit wine..., I came to learn and apply it at the Cooperative with the desire to reduce the waste of old grapefruit, diversify products, and increase the economic value of grapefruit trees".

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung - Director of the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, in the coming period, the annual grapefruit output will continue to increase due to the new planting area during the harvest period. In addition to promoting intensive production and building brands, the consumption linkage stage also needs attention. At the same time, the Department of Agriculture will coordinate with localities to attract businesses to invest in processing grapefruit products, especially deep processing, increasing consumption capacity to enhance the value of grapefruit products.

Currently, to help farmers expand their markets, increase promotion and introduce agricultural products, including grapefruit, in addition to traditional consumption channels and e-commerce channels, the Department of Agriculture has built a digital agricultural map of the province. Through this, consumers can learn about the province's key agricultural production areas, typical products, prices, traceability of origin... towards the goal of building a sustainable, green, organic, and environmentally friendly agriculture of the Ancestral Land.

Phan Cuong

Source: https://baophutho.vn/phat-trien-cay-buoi-ben-vung-223973.htm