Growing peony grapes - a new direction for young people in the difficult land of Buon Don

The rainy season is flooded - the sunny season is dry, the land of Ea Nuol, Buon Don, Dak Lak province is difficult to grow industrial crops. Looking for a way to get rich on their homeland, a group of young people in Ea Nuol commune boldly planted peony grapes, turning the disadvantages of weather and land into strengths in agricultural production.

“In 2021, the group started to test planting some grapevines that were suitable for the soil and grew well. Then, the group introduced a few new varieties for experimentation and found that they were still suitable. Due to the difference in day and night climate in the Buon Don area, the winter-spring crop has a temperature difference of more than 10 degrees, which will make the grapes more fragrant and sweeter,” said Mr. Vo Hoai An, the officer in charge of the vineyard’s technical department.

From the initial experimental model, up to now, on an area of 1.8 hectares, 10,000 grape trees have been harvested. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Lap, one of the people who contributed capital and invested in the vineyard, said that after many difficulties in improving the soil, investing in the greenhouse system, applying science and technology, after more than 3 years, the vineyard has harvested an average of 10 tons/year. Grapes are sold for 400,000 VND/kg, but there are many orders, there are times when the garden has no grapes to sell, so the development direction for this peony grape is still open.

“If everything goes well and the farmers here agree to support and strive with me, I am sure this will be a specialized grape growing area in the province,” Mr. Nguyen Quoc Lap confidently said.

The group of young people took advantage of social media to introduce their peony grape growing model to many people. At harvest time, hundreds of rows of straight, green, and fruit-laden grape vines attracted many tourists.

“I have been to many places, from Dalat strawberry garden to Ninh Thuan grape garden, but when I come back to my hometown and see a delicious grape garden, I still feel very excited. I hope the locality will have more vineyards like this to develop the economy, as well as an attractive tourist destination for visitors,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang.

According to Ms. Dinh Thuy Lang, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ea Nuol Commune, Buon Don District, the initial success of the peony grape growing model has opened up new directions for local farmers.

“The grape growing model brings many benefits. First of all, it is the change in the structure of crop varieties, when the new varieties are very suitable for the soil of Ea Nuol commune. Besides, the model also creates a direction for agricultural tourism development, which is one of the development directions in line with the district's orientation. In the future, the locality will continue to research and introduce this model to farmers in the communes so that more people can access it, guiding the locality to develop agriculture and change the crop structure more effectively,” said Ms. Lang.