VIETNAM From the seemingly dry clay mines to difficult-to-grow fruit trees, an old farmer in Mang Thit district of Vinh Long province has abandoned brick kilns and turned to organic farming.
The Idor label has its roots in the land of clay
Nhon Phu Township in Mang Thit District of Vinh Long Province is known as the “Kingdom of Bricks and Tiles”. The fertile alluvial soil of the Mekong, accumulated over many years, has deposited clay deposits in this land. According to the people here, more than a hundred years ago, the brick factory was established on this land and has become the main source of income for the people. People used to call this country “Viet Kieu” because many people got rich from brick kilns.
Nhon Phu Township in Mang Thit District of Vinh Long Province, which is a “kingdom of bricks and bricks,” is turning to agricultural economic development. Picture: its metal.
Over time, faced with the threat of pollution, orchards hidden behind brick kilns emerged as farmers changed their livelihoods, mainly durian and idor longan.
Mr. Truong Hoang Phuong’s family in Phu Thuan, a hamlet in Nhon Phu Municipality, has invested billions of dong to build two brick factories, which has been quite successful. Compared to many brick kiln households in the area who have a land contract to borrow from a bank, Mr. Phuong has never had to borrow money.
Concerned about environmental problems and depletion of land resources, Mr. Phuong decided to stop operating brick kilns. He spent more than a year visiting, learning about agricultural models and selecting crops. Seeing people growing high-yield longan, he loved it, one tree can bear tons of fruit at once, suitable for many types of soil and healthy.
Mr. Truong Hoang Phuong’s 1.5 ha Longan Garden is located in Phu Thuan A Hamlet, Nhon Phu Township, Mang Thit District. Picture: its metal.
This direction met with strong opposition from the family. “Relatives didn’t believe it, prevented it for fear of not being able to and halfway gave up. Everyone says brick soil is like a desert, but I am determined to do it,” Mr. Phuong said excitedly about his journey into farming.
When he traveled, he would take his wife and children with him to see how other farmers were doing. After so many attempts, he too was convinced, the couple unanimously decided to start planting Idor Longan.
Covering an area of 1.5 hectares, Mr. Phuong renovated the land on which brick kilns were built, planted 600 original idor longan, interspersed with canoe longan, bar longan, purple longan and some short-term crops such as squid, chili and nature flowers . At the same time, he ordered dredging to create a water line, dig 8 trenches around the garden, build a separate dam to breed snails, giant fish, carp… for the purpose of short-term farming. When he had the opportunity in 2017, Chili won the award, his income at that time was also several hundred million dongs a year, enough to invest in the “breeding” of the longan garden.
Longan Garden is expected to be harvested in October with a yield of up to around 100kg of fruit/tree. Picture: Trong Linh.
When the longan garden began to bear fruit in 2020, he boldly cut down all the other trees to concentrate the soil’s nutrients for the idor longan roots. In the first harvest, the average yield is 30-40 kg of fruit/tree, in the second harvest it increases to 60-70 kg of fruit/tree. The third crop is expected to be harvested in October with a yield of up to around 100 kg of fruit/tree. The price of idor longan is currently bought by traders at 20,000 VND/kg, which brings in more than 1 billion VND.
Through the exchange, Mr. Phuong is very confident that he has decided to transform the economy and develop this model of growing Idor Longan. He thinks he has a “big liver” since the supply and demand period will end, the epidemic will end, some people see fertilizer and give up, but he still holds on.
After nearly 5 years of developing the gardening model, Mr. Phuong has never failed. According to Mr. Phuong, he must be predestined for farming and happy.
Thanks to organic production, Mr. Phuong’s longan garden always has very good quality and high selling price. Picture: Trong Linh.
“Before I do that, I first calculate, create a way to transport the longan at harvest, arrange the position of each tag so that the garden is open and beautiful for tourism in the future,” Mr. Phuong said excitedly about the results after years of hard work.
I love organic, the tree stays green
The Idor Longan Garden has grown to today’s high yield because of its own secret, according to Mr. Phuong, which is “pleasant to use organic products, less fertilizers, but the trees are still growing well because of it!”.
Mr. Phuong said the fruit is clean and beautiful, now his model is fully converged. Too much “charcoal” information about the quality of the fruit, the uncontrolled use of medicines and chemical fertilizers prompted him to switch to organic farming.
At present, there are investment institutions in Nhon Phu Municipality that produce organic fertilizer from pangasius for gardeners. Picture: its metal.
He uses pangasius compost in combination with probiotics at a relatively low cost, which is both economical and safe. “At first I didn’t believe in this organic way of doing things, but when I saw a lot of people doing it successfully I thought the garden was beautiful, I can’t fault it, it’s ok! People did it, why did I refuse,” Phuong said excitedly.
In his opinion, compared to using chemical fertilizers, longan trees may not be as beautiful and grow more slowly. But slow, but good long, good keeping. Mr. Phuong calculated that if each tree is watered with fish manure for 20-30 days, it will be absorbed by many people on average.
Mr. Phuong is currently researching to build a longan garden that conforms to VietGAP standards. At the same time, the method of biological composting of fish is being transferred to farmers.
Water obtained from pangasius incubation and probiotics is used to spray fruit trees to effectively prevent pests and diseases. Picture: Trong Linh.
When the longan garden was built, Mr. Phuong was most concerned about the handling of the fruit. In many studies, he used the solution obtained from incubating pangasius to irrigate the longan garden to prevent pests. This is a very unique way of doing it, it works very well. To achieve this solution for the longan garden, it is divided into several stages, regularly about 4 times a year, evenly sprayed from the base to the leaves.
“During the fish composting process, the solution obtained from the fish composting process has the ability to kill the “talented” insects thanks to probiotics. Thanks to this measure, the longan broom disease rate has been reduced to only about 1%, and at the same time, it is very effective in preventing longan stem borers and extending the tree’s lifespan,” Phuong said.
Speaking about the life cycle of longan garden, Mr. Phuong confidently estimated that in the next 30-40 years, the family’s idor longan garden can still grow, develop sustainable values and use the life of the tree will be very durable.
Organic label brings together ecotourism
Mr. Phuong implements a garden tourism model for longan orchards. Picture: its metal.
In recent years, the face of the landscape in Nhon Phu Township has changed greatly, the roads are spacious and open, convenient for road and river transportation. In order to follow the original direction and make the longan garden an eco-tourism destination, Mr. Phuong is currently developing more fancy purple longan varieties.
The Idor Longan Garden is divided into zones with different fruit processing times to ensure that the garden bears fruit all year round. The road leading to the garden has been completed and the food court for guests is also under construction. Next, the Tum, the food hut, is built.
The ecotourism site is expected to be built, completed and operational by the end of 2022, serving tourists with the expected brand name Sau Thuong Longan Garden or Nam Phuong Tourist Area.
