According to growers of red grapefruit "for the king" in communes such as Tho Xuong and Xuan Bai (Tho Xuan district), in the days leading up to Tet, red grapefruit here is always in a state of "out of stock".
Mr. Pham Van Thanh (Tho Xuong commune, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province) said that the reason why red grapefruit (also known as royal grapefruit) is popular is because ripe grapefruit is red (symbolizing luck and fortune). Especially, during Tet, spraying a little wine on the grapefruit will give off a very pleasant aroma.
Mr. Thanh said that this year his family's grapefruit garden has more than 100 trees, estimated to produce thousands of grapefruits to supply the market for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
Similar to Mr. Thanh's family, Mr. Do Van Tho's family (in Xuan Tan village, Xuan Bai commune, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa) has about 200 grapefruit trees this year, estimated to harvest about 5,000 fruits: "The selling price for traders for the whole garden this year ranges from 30,000 VND to 60,000 VND/fruit (depending on each fruit), the family also earns about 250 million VND, after deducting expenses, the profit is about 200 million VND".
According to Mr. Tho, the red grapefruit (Luan Van grapefruit) originated in Tho Xuong commune, Tho Xuan district in the past, and he later brought the variety back to Xuan Bai commune to plant. At first, only his family planted it in small quantities, but later, seeing that grapefruit had high economic value, the villagers competed to plant it: "If 30 years ago, only my family planted it, now in the village there are more than 100 households planting red grapefruit. Some families plant a dozen trees, while others plant hundreds of trees."
According to Mr. Tho, the red grapefruit variety is not as delicious as the green-skin grapefruit or Dien grapefruit, but with the characteristic of being red from the peel to the core and having a characteristic aroma, it sells very well. During Tet, people often buy it to display on the altar to burn incense, the grapefruit is red so it also symbolizes luck at the beginning of the year.
According to the representative of the People's Committee of Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province, in recent years, the red grapefruit growing model in the locality has brought high economic efficiency, so this model is constantly expanding.
The localities that grow a lot of this type of grapefruit are Tho Xuong, Xuan Bai and Lam Son town. Up to now, the commune has more than 56 hectares of red grapefruit "for the king".
“On the days leading up to Tet, traders from everywhere come to order and buy red grapefruit. Thanks to that, many grapefruit growing households have more income, preparing for a more complete and decent Tet” - said a representative of the Tho Xuan District People's Committee.
