The Mexican sapodilla farm of farmer Nguyen Van Thuan, 60 years old, residing in Phuoc Hao hamlet, My Phuoc commune, Hon Dat district (Kien Giang province) is highly appreciated by local authorities for its economic efficiency.
After more than 5 years of bringing the Mexican sapo tree (sapovaya, sapodilla tree) to take root on the rice land, the man born in the year of the Snake Nguyen Van Thuan said: "The Mexican sapo tree bears fruit all year round, the selling price is stable, the type of 250 grams/fruit or more is priced at 65,000 VND/kg, the type under 250 grams/fruit is priced at 35,000 VND/kg".
According to Mr. Thuan, Mexican sapo has a sweet taste, firm flesh, especially few seeds, the harvest time lasts all year round, and the selling price on the market is also many times higher than normal sapo.
Mexican Sapodilla is a sun-loving plant, so plant it in a sunny place for it to grow and develop well, increasing the ability to flower and bear fruit. After 24 months of planting, the tree can bear fruit.
However, according to Mr. Thuan, it is necessary to prune the first fruits to focus on nurturing the tree, branches, and canopy. To make the tree flower and bear fruit, it requires quite complicated techniques and processes of care, providing necessary nutrients and minerals.
“If you want to know, you have to ask. If you want to be good, you have to learn. During the growing process, I often ask experts for advice so that the sapo trees produce quality fruit,” said Mr. Thuan.
Mr. Thuan next to his family's Mexican sapodilla farm in Phuoc Hao hamlet, My Phuoc commune, Hon Dat district (Kien Giang province).
Because of the safe growing process, from the time the fruit is small, Mr. Thuan uses bags to cover the fruit, protecting it from insects that can damage it.
With a safe farming process that meets the standards required by the export company, whenever there is a lot of grass in the sapo garden, Mr. Thuan hires someone to use a cutting machine, and absolutely does not use chemical herbicides to ensure food safety and hygiene for the sapo fruit.
For about a year now, Mr. Thuan's 8 hectares of land growing sapodilla trees have yielded quite high yields. On average, at peak times, the garden yields 2 tons of harvest per day, harvested once every half month.
“On harvest day, the company will bring boxes of sapodilla fruit to the garden at the price of grade 1 at 65,000 VND/kg, grade 2 at 30,000-35,000 VND/kg and the supply is always not enough to meet the demand. This tree bears fruit all year round, and with proper care, it is normal to earn billions of dong,” said Mr. Thuan.
Sapodilla orchard in Mr. Thuan's garden is covered from a young age to help prevent pests from attacking, improving the quality and appearance of this delicious fruit.
Before choosing Mexican Sapo trees to plant in his garden, Mr. Thuan only grew rice two crops. Having a headache with the rice output depending on rice brokers, Mr. Thuan asked the local government for permission to convert the rice land into an orchard.
With the will and determination of a hard-working farmer, Mr. Thuan experimented with many different crops such as lemon, longan, avocado... but none of them were effective due to unsuitable soil conditions. At the same time, farmers in neighboring provinces had already planted large areas, so the market price was always low.
The initial failure prompted Mr. Thuan to find his own way. After a period of researching many plant varieties as well as the ability to consume each type on the market, Mr. Thuan decided to choose Mexican sapo trees to invest in. In order not to depend on traders in the consumption stage, Mr. Thuan signed a contract to purchase the product with an export company at a stable price.
In the past 2 years, the high cost of investing in fertilizer, labor, and harvesting for the sapo garden has urged Mr. Thuan to find ways to reduce production costs. And he realized that only mechanization can help reduce production costs effectively.
Mr. Thuan next to the automatic fertilizer mixer that helps replace human labor and increase labor efficiency in taking care of 8 hectares of land growing sapodilla trees of Mexican origin.
Born during the war, Mr. Thuan only learned to read and write after the country was unified. Yet, Mr. Thuan was able to successfully assemble many types of agricultural machinery to serve his family's orchard.
Specifically, Mr. Thuan has successfully created a fertilizer mixer that reduces the time for fertilizing from 2 days to 1 day, reducing the pressure of heavy lifting for workers when fertilizing the garden. In addition, to speed up the watering process for the 8-hectare sapo garden, he created a water spraying system that only takes 2 hours, while previously manual watering took all day.
In addition to a good income from the sapodilla garden, Mr. Thuan also owns more than 100 hectares of rice fields, houses, and cars worth billions of dong. He said that he and his wife's hard work and dedication to business made him what he is today.
Mr. Thuan successfully grew Mexican sapo fruit and successfully exported it to foreign markets.
After getting married and moving out, his parents gave him 14 hectares of rice fields. His business flourished. During the years when the rice fields were only worth a few cents per hectare, Mr. Thuan and his wife saved up all their surplus and borrowed more money from the bank to buy more rice fields. With capital, Mr. Thuan also invested in a gas station in Co Do (Can Tho City) to expand his business.
In 2013, a serious illness forced Mr. Thuan to decide to stop his business and return to his hometown to take care of his fields and gardens. Perhaps it was the days of working in the fields and living in harmony with nature that helped him gradually overcome his illness.
Despite having food and property, to the local people, Mr. Thuan and his wife are always simple, often help the poor, and live in harmony with the neighborhood.
Four years have passed, but until now, the people of Phuoc Hao hamlet still remember him with respect when in 2021, he invested 500 million VND to build a 30m long reinforced concrete bridge across Ong Kiem canal to help people travel and transport goods conveniently.
Source: https://danviet.vn/sapoche-loai-cay-ra-qua-dac-san-trai-to-bu-xuat-xu-mehico-ty-phu-kien-giang-trong-thanh-cong-20250203133009157.htm
Comment (0)