Do not "disturb" the land

Coming to Suoi hamlet, Hung Thuan commune (Trang Bang town, Tay Ninh), we heard people tell the story of Mr. Huynh Van Quoi getting rich from durian trees.

Being a grey land mixed with poor sand, Trang Bang town is only suitable for rubber trees and short-term crops such as peanuts. However, with perseverance to the end, Mr. Huynh Quoi has made the land here generate money from an organic durian garden of more than 26 hectares, lush green, with countless fruits.

Taking us around the garden, Mr. Quoi said that to have the garden like today, he spent a lot of effort to enrich the soil. Accordingly, after experimenting with many forms of cultivation, Mr. Quoi chose the organic microbiological method to ensure that the result must be "delicious" and "healthy" in each durian. "Delicious" means that it can awaken the 5 senses when eating each piece of durian flesh. "Healthy" means good for health.

"All of my fertilizer products are antioxidants, helping to rejuvenate the soil and plant cells. My durian has a sweet taste, not too sweet," Mr. Quoi shared.

In addition, to pursue organic agriculture, Mr. Quoi also uses microorganisms to transform organic humus in the soil instead of using chemical herbicides. In particular, with the motto of not "disturbing" the soil, Mr. Quoi leaves the soil natural, nourishes the soil with weed cover, green manure..., the grass after being cut will return organic matter to the soil, earthworms in the soil will make the soil surface retain moisture and nutrients for the plants.

Mr. Quoi added that the most important thing for durian trees is their roots. Due to the characteristics of gray sandy soil that drains quickly, in order to have enough moisture to help the roots grow healthy and nourish the trees, Mr. Quoi invested in a water-saving irrigation system. Thanks to the thick vegetation and advanced irrigation methods, water is absorbed evenly, sufficiently and deeply into the soil to help the trees grow and develop stably.

From the gray, sandy, infertile land, Mr. Huynh Quoi’s durian garden has a different color, fresher and darker. As we walked through the garden, we felt the loose, sinking soil under our feet. Almost the entire surface of the garden was covered with a thick, moist layer of worm castings.

Standing next to a durian tree in harvest time, Mr. Quoi shared that growing organic durian is easier than growing it the traditional way. Accordingly, the initial investment cost of growing organic durian will increase because a lot of organic fertilizer must be used to improve the soil. In addition, treating pests and diseases on durian trees is also more difficult than growing them traditionally.

“When growing durian in the traditional way, when encountering pests, you only need to spray chemicals, but when growing organic durian, pest control is more difficult. After 6 years, this method of cultivation has resulted in more fertile soil, longer-lasting green plants, and higher yields,” said Mr. Quoi.

Bringing durian to digital platform

According to Mr. Quoi, at first, although he cultivated in a truly organic way, his farm still had difficulty bringing products to consumers. "Necessity is the mother of invention", during the Covid-19 pandemic, he tried to put durian on social networks, and surprisingly, the farm's durian was warmly received by consumers.

In addition, organically grown durians will be harvested gradually according to the ripeness of the fruit, not harvested simultaneously like regular durians. Previously, due to the small area, he mainly sold durians online on social networks. In recent years, when the durian area for harvest was quite large, Mr. Quoi was also the first person in Tay Ninh to participate in the Grab Connect project.

Mr. Quoi said that with the traditional form of distribution, the purchase and sale transactions are carried out and completed right at the garden, the gardener does not have the opportunity to "name" the product as well as promote his brand. Therefore, although the quality and flavor of durian is different from the general level, the benefits are not much.

By leveraging the technological power of the Grab platform and the ability to deploy multi-channel communication and marketing activities of the Grab super app, his durian was also named by the Grab Connect team with the green label "Huynh Quoi - Delicious and healthy agricultural products" carefully affixed on the fruit stem. Just like that, Huynh Quoi brand durian was put on the "digital market" and quickly reached users.

Mr. Quoi added that thanks to growing organic durian, the value of durian is much better than that of regular durian. Mr. Huynh Quoi cited that the current price of regular durian in the garden is about 80,000 VND/kg, while the price of his durian is 100,000 - 120,000 VND/kg.

“I hope my approach will spread to many other farmers. Through that, their products will be consumed on technology platforms, these gardeners will also gradually participate in the digital transformation process and benefit from the digital economy,” Mr. Quoi expressed.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tay Ninh province, the province's durian area has reached over 5,000 hectares. The durian growing area in Tay Ninh has been expanding in recent years, but it is still not enough to meet the demand of the market inside and outside the province.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Xuan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tay Ninh province, added that organic production is an inevitable direction today. However, in reality, the path to the goal of organic agricultural production, which is to ensure both productivity and quality, as well as high economic efficiency, is not easy.

Compared to the demand for durian consumption in the provincial market, the area of ​​durian cultivation in Tay Ninh is not really large. The conversion to organic production, for higher income, is in line with the province's agricultural development orientation. However, the development of durian trees must follow the right orientation, be suitable for the soil and apply science and technology, and be closely linked to the market supply chains.

“Currently, the market has a high demand for durian, partly due to China's increased purchases, but it is impossible to predict when the durian consumption market will be saturated, so before deciding to switch to growing durian, people need to consider sustainable, methodical, and cautious investment to avoid risks,” Mr. Nguyen Dinh Xuan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tay Ninh province, advised.