For many years, Mr. Thieu Viet Doan (residing in Thong Nhat village, Son Lang commune, Kbang district) has boldly intercropped 2.5 hectares of macadamia trees in his perennial coffee garden.
Currently, Mr. Doan's garden has 1.5 hectares of macadamia nuts that have been harvested with an average yield of 3.5-4 tons/ha. After deducting all expenses, each hectare of the "billion dollar" tree, the "queen of nuts", brings in an income of 130-150 million VND/harvest.
Macadamia trees are drought-resistant and resistant to pests and diseases, reducing investment costs for farmers (Photo: Chi Anh).
Mr. Doan confided: "More than 5 years ago, my fellow villagers and I were very impatient when the price of coffee, the main crop in the garden, was unstable. After researching, I boldly invested in intercropping macadamia, accepting "all or nothing" because at that time this crop was too new to me, luckily it worked out."
Mr. Doan added that it takes 5 years from planting to harvesting a macadamia tree, but the yield is very stable. In particular, the macadamia tree has a life cycle of over 50 years, so planting it once can bring in an income equal to a person's entire life.
Compared to coffee, growing macadamia trees is more advantageous because the investment costs are only concentrated in the first year. In those years, you only need to fertilize 2-3 times and water regularly. In addition, macadamia trees are also drought-resistant and resistant to pests and diseases.
Similarly, Mr. Lai Huy Hung's family (So Pai commune, Kbang district) has 3 hectares of macadamia trees. Mr. Hung said that if the weather is favorable, the yield can reach 5 tons/ha, with an estimated income of 600-700 million VND/crop.
On average, each hectare of macadamia yields an income of 130-150 million VND/crop (Photo: Chi Anh).
According to Mr. Hung, growers only need to pay attention when macadamia flowers bloom around the end of the year. The cold climate at this time has a temperature of about 20-22 degrees Celsius, the tree will grow well. If it is too sunny or rainy, the macadamia flowers will not set fruit and will rot.
Mr. Dinh Van Hdan - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Lang Commune, Kbang District - said that the commune has about 500 hectares of macadamia. Initially, people often intercropped with coffee. When the output was stable, people also boldly specialized to improve economic efficiency.
Many households have invested in machinery to process finished macadamia nuts. Macadamia products are processed and consumed in many large provinces and cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Khanh Hoa, etc.
To increase economic value, many households in Kbang district have bought machines to process macadamia nuts (Photo: Chi Anh).
Gia Lai province currently has more than 2,200 hectares of macadamia trees, with Kbang district alone having nearly 2,000 hectares. The growing areas are concentrated in mountainous communes such as So Pai, Son Lang, Dak Rong and Krong.
Mr. Ma Van Tinh - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kbang district - said that macadamia trees prefer cold soil, suitable for the soil and climate of the district, so they have few pests and diseases. Kbang district aims to have over 3,000 hectares of this "queen of nuts" by 2030.
Since 2018, the locality has had a support policy for poor households and ethnic minority households to intercrop macadamia trees with other crops to increase income.
In addition, the district coordinated with the Department of Science and Technology to complete the procedures for registering trademark certification.
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