Earn billions from growing Thai jackfruit

Thanks to being attached to Thai jackfruit trees for many years and being active in family economic development, Mr. Nguyen Huu Tan in Nga Sau town (Chau Thanh district, Hau Giang province) not only contributes to creating jobs for many local people but also strives to get rich from their homeland.

Taking us to visit his family's 3-hectare Thai jackfruit garden combined with durian intercropping, Mr. Tan said that durian is currently in its first year of bearing fruit, while jackfruit has been bearing fruit for several years. On average, his family harvests about 6 - 10 tons of jackfruit each time, earning VND 200 - 300 million.

According to Mr. Tan, Thai jackfruit is easy to grow, bears fruit after about 12-15 months of planting and bears fruit almost all year round. From the time the tree flowers and bears fruit to harvest, it takes about 4-5 months. Gardeners should only leave fruit twice a year to give the tree time to recover after bearing fruit. This year, Thai jackfruit prices range from VND 34,000 - 40,000/kg. Although it is not as good as every year, jackfruit growers are very satisfied with this price.

When ripe, jackfruit weighs 10-15 kg, has quite large and juicy segments inside, and has a strong sweet aroma. Besides, Thai jackfruit is rich in nutrients such as vitamins A, C, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and many other nutrients, which is very beneficial for users' health.

Thai jackfruit trees often have black fibers, the skin is not shiny, and the external shape still develops normally. Diseased and disease-free fruit can be found on the same tree. The cause may be calcium deficiency - due to too much rain causing calcium loss in the soil. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement calcium for jackfruit before the tree flowers and during flowering. The best type of calcium is liquid calcium, sprayed on the leaves and watered at the roots when the jackfruit is in bud and re-sprayed every 2 months until harvest.

Mr. Tan shared more: Previously, his family only had 4-5 square meters of garden land because his parents let him live independently when they married. Initially, he specialized in growing orange trees. When orange trees no longer gave high economic efficiency, he switched to Thai jackfruit trees. Thanks to loans from the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), the family's crop transfer was quite convenient.

In recent years, thanks to the high price of jackfruit, he and his wife have accumulated capital, then borrowed more money from the bank to buy more garden land from neighboring households. With little accumulation, he has owned more than 12 hectares of garden area specializing in growing jackfruit trees, each year yielding over 200 tons, with a total revenue of nearly VND 7 billion.

Besides gardening, Mr. Tan also opened a jackfruit purchasing warehouse for local gardeners. According to Mr. Tan, opening a jackfruit purchasing warehouse gives him direct access to purchasing agents, so he is not subject to price pressure and has more income. Currently, his family's 6 jackfruit gardens and jackfruit granaries create regular jobs for dozens of local workers.

Not only focusing on jackfruit trees, Mr. Tan and his wife also run a catering service business to diversify their income sources. He opened the restaurant to support his wife in developing her passion for cooking since she was young. Initially, the couple only accepted catering orders at the request of relatives and acquaintances near their home, then gradually expanded into a family restaurant business model. Running a restaurant not only helps Mr. Tan's family have an additional source of regular income but also helps dozens of other families have local jobs and stable living conditions.

In particular, recounting his family's business and economic development process, Mr. Tan did not forget to share about the resources and great encouragement that helped him boldly plan and implement business plans and develop his family business, which is Agribank's loan source.

“I have had a loan from Agribank for 15 years. Loan procedures are easy. When paying the loan or depositing money back into the bank, I always receive quick support from bank staff. The bank's lending and payment conditions are consistent with loan and capital turnover requirements, so I have maintained a credit relationship with Agribank for many years," Mr. Tan said.

Although the first days of starting a business faced many difficulties, with love for the homeland and farming, Mr. Tan and his wife were determined to stick to the land and hometown. What is valuable about this farmer is that he constantly explores and learns from his predecessors' experiences, including about production and farming experiences from social networks. Thanks to that, the family's garden is always well cared for and develops smoothly.