For more than a month now, gardener Nguyen Van Trung in Ke An commune (Ke Sach district, Soc Trang province) has been in the garden taking care of more than 2 hectares of green-skinned grapefruit to harvest in time for the 2025 Lunar New Year.
Mr. Trung said that green-skinned grapefruit is one of the fruits that many families choose to display as offerings during Tet, so the demand is always high. Therefore, his family stays in the garden to prevent pests and take care of the grapefruit skin and leaves to make them beautiful, so that they can be easily consumed during Tet.
According to Mr. Trung, recently the area of grapefruit cultivation in the locality and provinces in the West has tended to decrease, so the Tet holiday is often very popular. The price is also quite high, from 30,000 - 55,000 VND/kg, double the normal price.
"I plan to supply about 10 tons of fruit to the market this year. Currently, although there are many orders, my family is cautious in accepting them because prices are still fluctuating," said Mr. Trung.
Not only grapefruit, since last month, mango growers in Ke Sach district (Soc Trang province) have also started to process the trees to make them flower. However, to ensure a steady supply, farmers spread out the crop instead of processing the mangoes at a concentrated time. It is expected that the mango harvest will begin around the beginning of December until the Lunar New Year.
Mr. Le Van Chi - a garden owner in An Lac Tay commune (Ke Sach district, Soc Trang province) - said that this year's weather was somewhat unfavorable, with unseasonal rains, so the fruit set rate on mangoes was not as good as in previous years. Input costs also increased sharply, and farmers faced many difficulties. Therefore, people have high expectations for the mango crop at the end of this year.
Mr. Chi said that at this time, traders come to the garden to buy at 18,000 - 25,000 VND/kg, almost double the price of last year. If this price is maintained until Tet, the gardeners will have a good profit.
At the Xom Dong 2 Agricultural Cooperative (Thoi An Hoi Commune, Ke Sach District, Soc Trang Province), gardeners are also busy supplying star apples for export and goods during Tet 2025.
Mr. Tran Van Phuong - Director of Xom Dong 2 Agricultural Cooperative - said that the cooperative has a cultivation area of nearly 40 hectares of pink avocado milk fruit. The fruit output supplied to the market is from 180 - 200 tons/year. This year's Tet season alone is estimated to be from 40 - 50 tons of fruit.
"The cooperative's pink avocado is grown according to VietGAP standards. When it starts to bear fruit, farmers cover the fruit to avoid insects, flies, fertilizers, rainwater, and direct sunlight, so the fruit always retains its beautiful color. On average, each fruit weighs 350 - 400 grams, some fruits weigh up to 600 - 900 grams. Thanks to its outstanding advantages, the product is exported to the United States, Australia, etc., consumed in the high-quality domestic market segment," said Mr. Phuong.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang province, the total fruit tree area of the province is currently over 29,000 hectares with main crops such as mango, star apple, longan, grapefruit, durian, etc. Up to now, 125 growing area codes have been granted. In 2024, 1,420 tons of fruit tree products were linked for consumption (of which 240 tons were exported).
