It is late autumn but the sun is still beating down on the 1,000m+ hills throughout Pa Sang Village, Hua Thanh Township, Dien Bien District (Dien Bien Province). Under the heat of more than 35 degrees Celsius, Mr. Tran Van Hai, a technical director at Lien Viet Dien Bien Joint Stock Company, was still working hard to lead Mr. Ho A Chu, the head of the macadamia production team in the area. how to take care, especially pruning to create a macadamia canopy.
The technical staff carefully guide people to take care of macadamia trees, especially newly planted trees. Picture: Bao Thang.
According to Mr. Hai, in addition to the requirements of soil preparation and fertilization like ordinary fruit trees, to ensure the yield and quality of macadamia nut, growers need to pay special attention to the formation of canopies. “The macadamia flower is not spontaneously at the top of the branch, but grows independently from the buds of young branches from the axils of the leaves of 1-2 year old branches. Therefore, creating a canopy not only helps optimize photosynthetic efficiency, but also limits breakage, spills, pests,” he shared.
Macadamia canopy is relatively heavy, so pruning is regular from year to year, most importantly in the first 2-3 years. For trees with strong growth, the macadamia tree produces buds 3-4 times on average every year. From the time the young tips sprout until the mature branches last 35-40 days, each mature branch is 35-60 cm long.
Therefore, when apical pruning or pruning (breaking off apical dominance) is formed, side shoots are formed. Side shoots usually develop from 3 axillary buds of 3 leaf axils growing simultaneously. The process of pruning branches and shaping the canopy must be done early, even if the macadamia tree is 8 months old.
The bare hills in Hua Thanh Township in Dien Bien District are now gradually being covered with macadamia trees. Picture: Bao Thang.
Carefully memorizing how to take care of the trees, Mr. Ho A Chu said that this is the second time he has been “held in the hands” by technical personnel after the earthworks earlier in the year.
With 4 mouths to eat, A Chu was among the first people in Pa Sang Village to believe in planting macadamia trees. In recent years, his family’s main income has been mainly from upland rice, rarely reaching VND 3 million/ha. However, since joining the Lien Viet Dien Bien Joint Stock Company, each key employee in the family is charged a maintenance fee of VND 10 million/ha.
“The land here is barren, both high and steep, almost nothing can be cultivated. When there was a macadamia project, I didn’t immediately believe it. But when I saw the roads being built below, some places began to have roads electricity came, my stomach believed,” A Chu said excitedly.
As he spoke, A Chu’s hand was constantly experimenting with branching and creating a canopy in two ways Officer Hai had just introduced. One is a non-coplanar pattern, the level 1 branches do not derive from a common point. In this way the branches are staggered, spiraling and often ending 70 – 80 cm above the root collar. The second is how to scatter level 1 branches to focus on one point. In this model, the position for pressing the tips to scatter the branches of level 1 is 70 – 80 cm from the ground.
After the first tier branch has matured (60-70cm), press the tip a second time to grow the next tier branch in different directions to benefit the canopy and avoid tangles.
Pruning to create a canopy of macadamia trees should be done early and often. Picture: Bao Thang.
Mr. Ho Ah Chu said that at first he didn’t know what the macadamia tree was. But little by little, since this species of tree both provides shade and helps alleviate poverty, A Chu can learn it as long as there is a good and useful technique for the tree. Pruning branches to form canopy is no exception as this method facilitates harvesting after 4-5 years. The main method of harvesting today is for people to spread tarps on the ground and wait for the ripe fruit to fall off by itself.
Hua Thanh is one of three communities implementing the project to cultivate about 6,800 ha of macadamia nuts by Lien Viet Dien Bien Joint Stock Company in the period from 2021 to 2051. People who contribute land to the project are supported by society. Issue certificates for land use rights in areas with favorable conditions for further cultivation of rice and crops.
House A Chu is entitled to this support. Sitting in the shade of 2-3 year old macadamia trees, A Chu confided that next year he will be saving money to buy a motorcycle that will come in handy for scaling hills to tend “trillions” of trees.