A new crop season not only brings in high income, but is also the result of a change in production thinking, towards a methodical and sustainable agriculture.
"Gold on the trees" in the border area
In July, when the Northwest sun has less severe, the border communes of the old Song Ma district such as Chieng Khoong, Chieng Khuong, Muong Hung, Song Ma... are bustling again in the early ripe longan harvest. The beautiful, sweet, and plump longan not only bring in a stable source of income but are also considered "gold on the tree", when the selling price is 3-4 times higher than the main longan.
Mr. Luong Van Muoi - Director of Hoa Muoi Agricultural Service Cooperative, Chieng Khoong Commune - said: "This year, the cooperative collected about 25 tons of early ripe labels. The selling price at the garden is 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg. Traders come to the place to buy. The important thing is that the label has been inspected, the samples have been tested to ensure food safety and hygiene, so customers are very assured".
Previously, the Ma River area mainly grew local longan, giong la Mien Thiet, and harvested in bulk in July - August. The flourishing season causes many output to encounter difficulties, and prices are unstable. Realizing that the market increasingly favored early ripe longan, since 2019, Hoa Muoi Cooperative has pioneered the conversion of 15/30ha of traditional longan to T6 longan variety - early ripe variety for good productivity and quality.
Up to now, it is the third harvest, with stable output, beautiful fruit quality, and being favored by the market. Many farming households in the commune also boldly followed suit, changing their methods to suit practical needs.
Mr. Lo Van Cham, a member of Hoa Muoi Cooperative, shared: My family has 3 hectares of longan, of which 1.5 hectares are early ripe longan. The entire area has a growing and producing area code according to GlobalGAP standards. Timed brands require more elaborate care techniques, but in return, they can be sold at a high price, with a much better profit".
Not only Chieng Khoong commune, at Hung Loc cooperative, Chieng Khuong commune, 10/39ha of longan has also been converted to early ripe longan variety. Mr. Tran Van Loc - Director of Hung Loc Cooperative - said: "The brands are not sold enough when they are ripe early. After harvesting, 15 tons were immediately exported to traders in Hanoi and some southern provinces. It must be beautiful and standard to let customers return to buy more".
Currently, there are nearly 7,400 hectares of longan in the area, of which more than 1,000 hectares are early ripe longan. This year's early ripe longan output is estimated at over 10,000 tons. Although the area has not yet accounted for a large proportion, it has contributed significantly to changing the production thinking of people in border areas.
"We are encouraging people to cross- graft and change the T6 and Anh Vang labels to spread the crops and increase income. Strive to have nearly 900/1,500 hectares of labels as early ripe labels by 2030," said Mr. Lo Van Sinh - Chairman of Song Ma Commune People's Committee.
The journey to renew longan trees
Unlike the main season label, early ripening label requires growers to apply a strict care process. Early ripening is often a flower in the dry season, if there is not enough water, the flowers will easily fall off, causing the crop to lose everything.
Mr. Lo Van Hung, Bang Lap village, Muong Hung commune, shared: Early ripening flowers are very different, in the dry season they have to be watered continuously because the plants need a large amount of water to bloom. When the plants bloom, absolutely do not spray pesticides and let the bees and butterflies naturally collect pollen. Only when the flowers fade did the young fruit receive spray to prevent pests and diseases. Then, you have to prune the weak fruit clusters so that the plants can add nutrients to the healthy fruits.
According to Mr. Lo Van Thiet in Co village, Chieng Khuong commune: "From the beginning of the crop, agricultural staff of the commune and province have gone down to the garden to guide the care process. During harvest, officers are also present to instruct people on how to pick the right techniques, helping the longan to maintain the best quality when it reaches consumers".
Thanks to the application of methodical techniques, most of the early ripe longan areas in the Ma River are currently granted growing and farming area codes according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. The product is not only consumed domestically but also aimed for export.
To solve the problem of "going down in price season", local authorities and cooperatives have stepped up processing longan and dried longan for year-round consumption. Currently, there are nearly 3,000 label processing facilities, more than 700 clean heat-to-energy boilers, 3 cold storage facilities and 6 cold containers for product storage.
Currently, cooperatives and gardeners growing longan in the area are promoting trade, inviting large enterprises to buy and export. At the same time, encourage members of the cooperative to proactively process and upgrade packaging and preservation facilities to ensure international standards. The signing of product guarantee contracts has also been proactively implemented by cooperatives, helping people feel secure in production. Many shipments of early ripe longan of Song Ma have been consumed in large supermarket systems in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh.
The goal is that by 2030, the planning of the early ripe longan areas of the communes along the Ma River will be completed with about 1,500 hectares, making longan a key product in border communes. At the same time, promote in-depth processing, link with exporting enterprises, and increase added value.
The biggest difficulty at present is to issue a growing area code, where the scale of a cooperative's production land is often not enough, it is necessary to cooperate with other cooperatives or with farming households to meet the minimum requirement of 10 hectares to issue a growing area code for export, especially for scattered early ripe longan cultivation, mainly planted from long-standing old longan trees. This also makes production control difficult.
For export, the growing area code must also be accompanied by the packaging facility code, so coordination between facilities plays a key role in developing in the right direction to fully utilize the value of the growing area code.
The establishment of growing areas often requires the participation of 10 - 15 farmers, so recording the logs for management is very important to unify farming methods, ensure the scale of the growing areas, and at the same time, ripe leaves must be assessed more strictly for quality and food safety, said a representative of the Department of Agriculture and Environment.
The sweet and delicious early ripe longan harvested from farmers in border areas is not just a simple agricultural product, but a crystallization of the change in production thinking. An early ripe longan crop is good for the season, good prices not only help people increase their income, but also open the door for border agriculture along the Ma River to reach further and more sustainably in the flow of economic integration.
