When visiting the MST pink plum garden at the My Phuoc High-Tech Application and Community Tourism Cooperative (Ke Sach district, Soc Trang province), the reporter could not help but be overwhelmed by the fruit-laden plum trees, mixed with clusters of white flowers and green, bulky young fruits.
Mr. Tran Anh Nhan - Director of the Cooperative - said that MST pink plums bear fruit almost all year round, always with flowers and fruits on the plants, so gardeners harvest them continuously.
"Each harvest, we provide from several hundred to tons of fruit to clean, high-end fruit stores in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, with a selling price of 80,000 VND/kg. Thanks to that, gardeners have a stable and quite high income," said Mr. Nhan.
According to Mr. Nhan, MST pink plums possess many outstanding advantages compared to conventional plums. Plum has beautiful colors, from light pink when young to dark red when cooked, crispy meat, broth and characteristic sweetness with a brix (sweetness) of up to 14.2. This plum variety also adapts well to soil and local climates, giving high and stable yields.
"We cultivate completely organically, without using fertilizers or pesticides. The plums are carefully wrapped from the time they are young until harvest, ensuring the best quality," Mr. Nhan added.
Similarly, gardener Nguyen Van Nhut in An Thanh 1 commune (Cu Lao Dung district, Soc Trang province) also earned billions of dong from growing MST pink plums. Mr. Nhut said that he used to grow red-fleshed dragon fruit but the price was unstable, after switching to growing MST pink plums, his income increased significantly.
"Each plum tree produces about 100kg of fruit/year. In 2024, my 3,000m2 plum garden will produce 16 tons, with a selling price of 80,000 - 100,000 VND/kg, earning a profit of more than 1 billion VND," Mr. Nhut said excitedly.
In addition to selling fresh plums, Mr. Nhut also chops plum branches as seedlings to sell to people in need. The estimated number of branches sold on the market is 5,000, the selling price is 70,000 VND/ branch.
"This fruit is big, high in yield, an average of 6 - 7 fruits/kg, and there are also gardens with 4-5 fruits/kg. However, when planting, you have to cover the net and pick the fruit. If not packaged in time, the fruit will easily crack, waterlog, and become susceptible to pimples and flies, affecting the quality," said Mr. Nhut.
According to statistics, Soc Trang province currently has about a few dozen hectares of MST pink plum. The consumption market of this fruit is expanding, not only at domestic high-end fruit stores but also exported through a number of import-export companies.
The functional sector of Soc Trang province is carrying out procedures to certify upstream trees, survey and recognize concentrated growing areas and build a model garden model associated with community ecotourism. Currently, MST pink plums are also recognized as a 3-star OCOP product. The professional sector also recommends that farmers should not grow in large numbers but carefully prepare farming conditions, growing areas, and consumption output.
