Growing purple star apples and pink avocado star apples in Soc Trang, the trees are short and bear a lot of fruit, making the billionaire farmer rich.

By choosing a fruit tree growing model, including purple star apple and pink avocado star apple, suitable for the local climate and soil, veteran Duong Minh Truong in Hamlet 1, Trinh Phu Commune, Ke Sach District, Soc Trang Province has been creating a stable source of income, gradually becoming a rich household in the locality.

We visited the family of veteran Duong Minh Truong one morning when he and his wife were busy harvesting squash and pumpkins to deliver to traders.

Tall and agile, no one would think that this year Mr. Truong is about to reach a rare age (69 years old).

Happy to welcome us, Mr. Truong said that when he was 18 years old, he joined the security force of Trinh Phu commune, Ke Sach district (Soc Trang province) until the end of the resistance war against the US. After the country was reunified, he continued to work in the locality and successively held the positions of Deputy Commune Police, Commune Judicial Officer, Party Cell Secretary, Police Chief and then Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Trinh Phu Commune Party Committee, until 2000 when he retired under the regime.

During his fighting and working, no matter what position he held, he always strived to fulfill his tasks, was highly appreciated by local authorities and party committees, and was loved and trusted by the people.

When he retired and returned to normal life, the couple's biggest assets were a thatched house and 2 hectares of farmland. The family's economy depended only on the pension, so life initially encountered many difficulties.

He discussed with his family to start renovating 2 hectares of land to grow papaya interspersed with chili, squash, and pumpkin of all kinds with the motto "take short-term to support long-term".

With his industrious nature, eagerness to learn, and good application of scientific and technical advances in selecting varieties and care methods, the profits from his 2 hectares of farmland are quite high, with daily income, from which his family's economy has improved day by day.

Working hard and saving money, he bought 2 more hectares of land each year and by 2016 his family had accumulated 13 hectares of land, adding to the previous 2 hectares of land, making 15 hectares (1.5 hectares).

Veteran Duong Van Truong (first from left) guides a tour of the star apple garden in Trinh Phu commune, Ke Sach district, Soc Trang province.

Not satisfied with the results, Mr. Truong decided to visit and learn about fruit growing models in the district and converted the entire 1.5 hectares of garden area to grow longan interspersed with purple lemon, also with the aim of "taking short-term to support long-term".

The experience accumulated during the tours and studies, combined with the suitable soil and climate of Trinh Phu, his purple lemon garden continuously has a good harvest, good prices, and profits many times higher than previous farming.

The main crop of longan, the cowhide, was not very effective due to the broom disease, so he rented a hoe to make beds, invested in a lawn mower, a pesticide sprayer, installed an automatic irrigation system and converted the entire area of ​​longan to grow 200 star apple trees on an area of ​​8 hectares, 6 hectares of star apple trees, and the rest were planted with pink plums and durian, interspersed with over 500 kumquat trees.

Each type of tree is planted in a separate area, with a wide path in the middle for easy care, fertilization, and harvesting. In order for the purple star apple and pink avocado star apple gardens to grow well, in addition to taking great care, applying science and technology, and preventing pests and diseases, he also takes the initiative in providing seedlings, which brings high productivity and quality.

When the star apple tree was still small, he planted gourds, pumpkins, squash, and eggplants to earn daily income. Although it was a daily income, his monthly income from gourds, squash, and squash was around 30 million VND, not to mention that he sold 2-3 tons of almonds to the market every month.

Thanks to good care, proper technical procedures, especially the flowering treatment technique, Mr. Truong's family's milk fruit garden not only achieves high yield but also has delicious product quality, is well received by the market, and is a familiar address for war veterans in and outside the province to visit and learn from experience.

From 2018 to now, Mr. Truong's family's purple star apple and pink avocado star apple garden has yielded an average of 40 - 45 tons of fruit/year, the lowest selling price of star apple is also 15 million VND/ton (15,000 VND/kg), sometimes 30,000 VND/kg, with revenue from 600 to over 700 million VND/year, excluding expenses, the profit is from 400 - 500 million VND/year; income from star apple, pink plum and other crops is over 200 million VND/year. This is a fairly high income and is the dream of many farmers in Ke Sach as well as in Soc Trang province.

Comrade Tran Van Tran - Chairman of the Association of War Veterans in Trinh Phu commune, said: War veteran Duong Minh Truong, despite his old age, always upholds the nature of "Uncle Ho's soldiers", is a shining example not only in applying science and technology to production but also willing to share experiences, enthusiastically guide techniques, support seedlings to help War Veterans Association members inside and outside the commune to implement together, thereby creating jobs for many workers, contributing to stabilizing and improving life, eliminating hunger and reducing poverty in the locality.

Every year, he and his family actively participate in local movements and campaigns, especially the movement to build new rural areas, civilized urban areas, and the movement to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty.

In particular, in 2024, he directly campaigned for the installation of a lighting system to light up rural roads in the hamlet with a length of over 1.5 km, contributing with the locality to complete the criteria for advanced new rural areas.

With the results achieved in the emulation movement "Veterans help each other reduce poverty, do good business", for many consecutive years, Mr. Truong has achieved the title of "Good production and business" at the district and provincial levels. Veteran Duong Van Truong is a shining example of the will and determination of Uncle Ho's soldiers in peacetime today and his economic model needs to be replicated and learned by cadres and members of the Veterans Association of Soc Trang province.

Source: https://danviet.vn/trong-vu-sua-tim-vu-sua-bo-hong-o-soc-trang-cay-thap-te-trai-qua-troi-ong-ty-phu-nong-dan-giau-20241114155212007.htm