Longan trees on sloping land, farmers have high income

Coming to Long Phieng commune, Yen Chau district (Son La), everywhere on the hillsides and valleys, we can see lush fruit gardens. Each season has its own fruit, fruit gardens such as longan, mango, grapefruit, plum... have changed the lives of the people here every day, striving to become rich. The achievements like today are thanks to the policies of the province and district on promoting fruit trees on sloping land, along with changes in economic development thinking of the people here.

Introduced by an officer from the Yen Chau District Department of Agriculture, we visited the fruit garden of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Duyen’s family in Pha Cung village, Long Phieng commune, Yen Chau district (Son La). Mrs. Duyen’s longan garden is one of the largest in the area, generating an annual income of billions of VND.

Our first impression when we came to Ms. Duyen's longan garden was that although it was planted on steep slopes, the longan trees were planted properly, with an automatic watering system at the base of the trees. Every tree was green and lush, with bunches of longan laden with fruit.

Yen Chau district, Son La province promotes fruit tree planting on sloping land. Photo: Van Ngoc

Sitting under the shade of a longan tree, Ms. Duyen shared: In 1993, after getting married, my husband and children and I moved from our hometown of Khoai Chau (Hung Yen) to Long Phieng to reclaim land and start a business. At that time, this Pha Cung hill area was full of wild plants and reeds. My family decided to reclaim this barren land to develop the economy. In the early days, my family also started growing longan, but they were only local varieties so the economic efficiency was not high, at that time my family was very difficult.

In 2003, responding to the Party and State's policy of converting the structure of ineffective sloping land crops to fruit trees, Ms. Duyen boldly introduced Mien Thiet longan variety to replace local longan varieties. This longan variety produces sweet, abundant fruit, thin skin, thick flesh, after only 3 years, her family was able to harvest and make a profit continuously for many years to come.

To ensure productivity and product quality, Ms. Duyen's family conducts intensive farming, applies high technology in grafting, breed improvement, applies production processes according to VietGAP standards, uses organic fertilizers, manure, NPK, and fertilizes plants. Thanks to that, her family's longan garden has been lush and green since grafting until now.

"Currently, my family grows over 10 hectares of longan trees. With proper care, the family's longan garden has high productivity, beautiful appearance, and is purchased by traders at the garden and sold to supermarkets and clean agricultural product stores in Hanoi. On average, my family harvests 100 - 120 tons of longan per crop. After deducting all expenses, my family has a profit of 1.6 billion VND per year," said Ms. Duyen.

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Duyen, Pha Cung village, Long Phieng commune, Yen Chau district (Son La) has a high income from growing longan. Photo: Van Ngoc

Sustainable development of longan trees on sloping land

Mr. Vi Van Quynh, Vice Chairman of Long Phieng Commune People's Committee, Yen Chau District, Son La Province informed: Currently, Long Phieng Commune has 676 hectares of longan, of which 600 hectares are for harvest, concentrated in Pha Cung, Yen Thi, Nong Duc and Mo Than villages.

For areas bearing fruit, the commune has coordinated with specialized agencies of the district to guide people to invest and care according to technical processes. At the same time, it has strengthened connections to consume and promote products. This year, the output reached about 3,000 tons of fruit.

Yen Chau district, Son La province promotes the application of scientific advances in developing fruit trees on sloping land. Photo: Van Ngoc

During the harvest season, there are 10-12 longan purchasing points every day in Pha Cung, Nong Duc, Yen Thi, Mo Than villages, each point collects an average of 1-2 tons of fresh fruit, the products are consumed at wholesale markets of Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, Hanoi provinces; up to now, about 650 tons of fruit have been consumed, and it is expected that by the end of September, the late-ripening longan harvest will be completed.

To improve the economic efficiency of late-ripening longan, Long Phieng commune continues to encourage cooperatives and longan growers to promote grafting and improving late-ripening longan varieties on old longan varieties, applying technical advances in care. Strengthening pest management, pesticide residues, ensuring food safety and hygiene products. At the same time, proactively propagating, promoting, connecting consumption and export markets and researching measures to preserve late-ripening longan fruits, meeting the requirements of spreading the crop to improve economic efficiency for farmers.

Growing fruit trees on sloping land helps farmers in Yen Chau have a stable income. Photo: Van Ngoc

It can be seen that the development of fruit trees on sloping land has significantly improved people's lives, with stable incomes and the ability to become rich. In the coming time, Yen Chau district (Son La) will continue to build and develop fruit tree production models that meet VietGAP standards; maintain the brands and trademarks for certified products and promote people to expand the area of ​​high-quality agricultural production for some key crops.

Van Ngoc