Durian garden with profit of 15 billion VND per year of excellent Vietnamese farmer

KON TUM Not only is he a good farmer, Mr. Bui Van Quyen also focuses on organic production, protecting the health of his family, consumers and the ecological environment.

KON TUM Not only is he a good farmer, Mr. Bui Van Quyen also focuses on organic production, protecting the health of his family, consumers and the ecological environment.

Mr. Bui Van Quyen (Tum village, Ya Ly commune, Sa Thay district, Kon Tum) is the "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer of 2023" voted by the Vietnam Farmers' Association, known by many people of Kon Tum province and is a typical example of good agricultural production.

Mr. Quyen's family's 20-hectare durian garden is always green. Photo: Tuan Anh.

Leaving his hometown of Ha Tay (old) to live and work in Ya Ly commune since the 1990s, Mr. Quyen's family applied to the district for 5 hectares of land to reclaim and grow rubber trees. The rubber trees grew well, and he continued to expand the area to 30 hectares after nearly 10 years of staying.

In later years, realizing that although rubber trees provided stable income, their economic value was not as high as that of fruit trees, Mr. Quyen considered the problem of converting the crop structure.

In 2017, after discussing with his family, he decided to convert 20 hectares of old rubber trees to grow durian trees. From the beginning, he decided to take care of the durian trees organically, so he did not use chemical fertilizers.

According to Mr. Quyen, the most important factor for him to pursue organic agricultural production is first of all to protect the health of his family and consumers and not cause harm to the environment.

Determined to grow organically, his family raised dozens of cows to provide fertilizer for the durian garden. However, the source of cow dung at that time was not enough to fertilize the family's durian garden of more than 20 hectares. After that, he went to all the villages to buy more cow dung from the people, and at the same time used indigenous microorganisms (IMO) to compost into microbial organic fertilizer for the garden. On the other hand, he researched to buy organic fertilizers on the market, mainly imported.

From the beginning, Mr. Quyen's family decided to grow durian organically, following VietGAP standards. Photo: Tuan Anh.

“The family mainly uses organic fertilizers imported from Korea, Belgium, etc., meeting the standards of world organic organizations. In these fertilizers, people also use indigenous microorganisms, which do not contain chemical residues, so when used in the garden, they are very effective,” Mr. Quyen shared.

Evaluating the effectiveness of using organic fertilizers, Mr. Quyen said that his family's durian garden is growing very well, with few pests and diseases. In particular, using organic fertilizers results in better quality durian fruit.

“Last season, durians in many places had hard flesh, making them difficult to sell. Meanwhile, my family’s durian garden was also affected by the weather, but the quality was still very good and everyone praised it as delicious,” Mr. Quyen shared.

After successfully growing organically, Mr. Quyen decided to produce durian according to VietGAP standards, and participated in the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program and was recognized as a 3-star OCOP.

Last season, Mr. Quyen's family harvested more than 300 tons of durian with a revenue of over 20 billion VND. Photo: Tuan Anh.

Not only that, his family's durian garden has been granted a growing area code for more than 20 hectares. By the end of 2022, his entire durian acreage will be licensed for export to China.

Last season, the durian garden harvested about 2,000 trees, yielding 300 tons, selling price at the garden was 67,000 VND/kg, total revenue was about 20 billion VND. After deducting expenses, Mr. Quyen's family earned a profit of about 15 billion VND. In addition, Mr. Quyen's family also has 12 hectares of rubber planted from 2004 - 2005, currently yielding an average profit of 300 million VND/ha/year. In addition, he also has 2.5 hectares of macadamia trees planted in the third year and 0.8 hectares of pepper trees that have not yet been harvested.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoa, Head of the Cultivation Department (Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Kon Tum province) said that Mr. Quyen's durian garden has developed in accordance with the orientation of organic agricultural development, according to VietGAP standards. This has contributed to changing the awareness of officials and people in Sa Thay district in particular and Kon Tum province in general about organic agriculture. From there, it has spread to crop production in Kon Tum province.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/vuon-sau-rieng-lai-15-ty-dong-moi-nam-cua-nong-dan-viet-nam-xuat-sac-d406356.html