Planting fruit trees ‘the organic way’

Mr. Trinh Quoc Huy (Yen Ninh commune) shared that all 3 ha of Dien pomelo and green-skinned pomelo of his household were grown and cared himself following the organic way. The orchard’s productivity and economic efficiency have improved so much compared to when he applied the conventional method.

After the Lunar New Year - during pomelo’s harvest period, all families participating in the model continue to grow pomelos according to the process set out by Yen Ninh Agricultural and Construction Cooperative. The orchards are sprayed with biopesticides, fertilized using manure and a mixture of fish, beans, and corn and with probiotics.

“No word has spread and the organic model has yet to be confirmed of its efficiency, but after a family boldly applying the methods, another follows, and now many households in the area follow the organic process upon seeing buyers flooded directly to that family’s field to purchase pomelos, ready to pay high. The garden owner also face no harm from pesticides when applying the organic procedure, which is a great advantage,” said Mr. Trinh Quoc Huy.

According to Mr. Do Cong Hung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Ninh Commune, this movement of pomelo took place in 2009 but became strong in 2013. And by 2015 the majority of households in Yen Ninh has completely switched to growing pomelos in "the organic way".

From 2017-2019 the People's Committee of Yen Ninh Commune has many times invited technical staff from the Institute of Agriculture to provide knowledge to the locals especially on restoration techniques for trees after floods. Yen Ninh’s Dien pomelo planting area was also granted VietGap certification in 2017 and has entered a number of supermarkets and shops in Thanh Hoa province.

This is not the only model in Thanh Hoa applying organic farming.

Thach Thanh district - one of the localities with the largest fruit trees area in Thanh Hoa, has gardeners growing fruit trees organically. They raise earthworms to make fertilizers, extracting nitrogen from them to provide crops with helpful nutrients.

According to information from the Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Thanh Hoa province, the organic farming method has made its first appearance in the locality since the early 2000s. Thanh Hoa has approximately 3,000 ha of organically grown crops up to the present time.

There are many more cooperatives applying organic agriculture and growing fast in terms of scale and product quality such as the rice production model in Thieu Hoa district or the vegetables and fruits model in the Dong Son district.

The People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province is currently assigning the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop the Scheme "Development of organic agriculture in the 2021-2025 period, vision to 2030." Thanh Hoa will select areas that meet the criteria to further develop the organic planting model and focus on key crops in line with the market’s demands. The local authority holds the intention to link the development of organic farming with farmland - ecological tourism.

As stated by Mr. Vu Quang Trung, Deputy Director of Thanh Hoa Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, in the near future the locality will take more drastic measures in implementing provisions in the Law on Product Quality and the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations in Production, Processing, Certification and Supervision concerning the production and consumption of organic agro-products.

Thanh Hoa will construct policies to encourage investment from businesses in the production and trading activities of organic products particularly biological fertilizers, micro-organisms, and biopesticides.

Some orientation of Thanh Hoa for the future: increase branding and expand the market for organic products, both aiming for the domestic and global market; strengthen marketing for organic cultivation, raise the awareness of businesses, producers and consumers about the compliance with the organic agricultural farming process; and select key products of the province suitable to the local natural conditions.