Quintessence of Vietnamese agricultural products: Ba Den custard apple

Why is Ba Den custard apple famous?

The Southern region has long been famous for producing the most fruit in the country. Ba Den custard apple is a specialty of Tay Ninh province. Accounting for over 40% of the total custard apple market share in the country, Ba Den custard apple is considered an agricultural product of great economic value in the province.

According to locals, custard apple is grown in many parts of the country. However, only in Tay Ninh, especially the area around the foot of Ba Den mountain, can this fruit develop to its fullest potential. This is because the Ba Den mountain area has a mild climate all year round; the days are sunny without being too harsh and the nights are long with low temperature to stimulate and promote the flowering of custard apple trees.

The temperature difference between day and night here that ranges from 8 to 10 degrees Celsius on average and the temperature difference between the seasons ranges from 1.5 to 3 degrees Celsius. These differences have facilitated a stable climate, helping custard apple trees to flower and bear fruit all year round. In addition, Ba Den mountain area also has gray soil on ancient alluvium background, along with sloping mountainside terrain to prevent waterlogging, so the area is very suitable for growing custard apple, a shallow and non-flooded crop.

The climate and the soil has shaped the many differences in the appearance and quality of custard-apple grown here. As a result, Ba Den custard apple is a round heart-shaped sphere; green before ripening, yellowish green when ripe. The outer skin of the fruit has multiple knobbly or matted knobs; there are slits between the knobs, when ripe, these slits expand into white grooves.

Each fruit has an average diameter of 7.8 cm, an average weight of nearly 200 grams; there is an average of 5 fruits in a kilogram; Average yield per tree is 10 kg. The flesh of Ba Den custard apple accounts for about 70% of the fruit, has an ivory-white color, and the segments are conjoined. The sweetness (in Brix) is 25%. Ba Den custard apple has a rosy fragrance, a high ratio of protein, sugar, and calories with a neutral pH level. In addition, custard apple contains many trace elements such as potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, copper, and manganese.

Introducing custard apple into the chain will bring many benefits

The communes along the foothills of Ba Den mountain and its surrounding area are currently the largest custard apple farming area in the country with an area of ​​nearly 5000 hectares. Although it is a local traditional tree, custard apple was shunned by consumers, especially by farmers because of the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides, causing the product to have no output. In face of such challenge, local farmers have gradually changed their farming practices, coordinate with each other to associate production. Cooperative groups and cooperatives were gradually established ever since. Thanh Tan custard-apple cooperative is one of such pioneering cooperatives, focusing on improving product quality by applying VietGAP standards to production, bringing cleaner products to consumers.

 “Following the criterion of “4 no's” including: no use of chemical pesticides, no growth sprays, no inorganic fertilizers, no preservatives; and “4 correct's”: correct bio-organic fertilizer, correct dose, correct time and correct method. The purpose of this farming direction to focus on developing production in the short term as well as in the future by improving the soil, making the land more fertile and better, towards a sustainable agriculture for the farmers. Another important aspect is that the products by farmers will be well received and cherished by the market compared to regular products". said Mr. Mang.

Mr. Mang added that the cooperative's products have been placed in supermarkets and clean agriculture stores as a result of the promotion of connections. Products are consumed as they are produced. The cooperative has attracted 18 official members and 190 linked households with a cultivated area of 90 hectares, generating excellent conditions for advanced techniques such as using industrial irrigation technology to save water and preservation to postpone ripening, etc. In comparison to many other crops, it is a crop with a higher economic efficiency. 1 hectare of custard apple can bring farmers a profit of 200 to 300 million VND per year if properly invested and cultivated.

Deep processing and extending the reach of custard apple

According to Mr. Mang, for custard apple to reach further markets, in addition to changing farming methods, his concern reflects the primary concern of custard apple farmers here, that is custard apple has the disadvantage of ripening very quickly; and selling it to other localities or abroad can also be a difficult problem. If custard apple is fully ripe, it will lead to an surplus of goods in the market, excess supply, and a decrease in price, etc. He has long been interested in the field of food processing from local agricultural products. Therefore, Mr. Mang intends to process custard apple into various products such as canned custard apple, custard apple juice, custard apple candy, custard apple wine and so on.

The concerns and passions prompted Mr. Mang to build a project of a food processing factory from custard-apple fruit. The cooperative was recently approved by the Provincial People's Committee with a total investment of 13 billion VND. The capital from the national target program on building new rural areas for 2019-2020 is 10.5 billion VND, the cooperative reciprocates the remaining amount. The project includes the following items: a slow-ripening processing and storage plant for custard apple; and a processing and canning plant for custard apple juice following HACCP standards with a capacity of 2 to 5 tons of fruit/day, a product introduction store, etc.

"Due to impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, the construction progress of the factory has reached 90%. It is expected that by the end of this year, the factory will go into operation, thereby solving a large amount of output for custard apple from the cooperative and farmers in the project area, putting an end to the low selling prices of custard apple due to short storage life. This project will in turn helps increase the value of custard apple, improving income for farmers", said Mr. Mang.

In addition to Thanh Tan cooperative with 100 hectares of associated material and custard apple area cultivated following VietGAP standards, in Tan Binh and Thanh Tan communes (Tay Ninh city), Phan commune (Duong Minh Chau district) and the area around Ba Den Mountain, NATANI Joint Stock Company has also been processing products to enhance the value of local custard apple. The company's products have been put on the market and are warmly received by consumers.

According to Mr. Nguyen The Tan, Director of NATANI Joint Stock Company, custard apple products of the company are currently present in large supermarket chains across the country including Aeon (Japan), E-mart (Korea), BigC, Co.opMart; convenience store chains including Bach Hoa Xanh, VinMart, etc. and some markets in the North, Central and Central Highlands. In addition to the domestic market, some companies are contracting to consume NATANI's products and  export to the US, Russia and countries in the Middle East. However, the export volume is low, accounting for only 20% of the total output.

“The company's development strategy is that fresh fruit should account for about 30% of output, and the remaining 70% will go through post-harvest processing to produce jams, juices, wine, etc. to diversify products as well as improve added value and develop Tay Ninh custard apple sustainably", said Mr. Tan.

The Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee has recently organized an evaluation and rating of Tay Ninh OCOP products in 2021, thereby evaluating and ranking 18 products that meet 3- and 4-star OCOP standards. 3 custard apple products, including custard apple fruit, custard apple wine and custard apple juice, were rated 4 stars by the OCOP Product Rating and Evaluation Council.

“Being OCOP certified is an important milestone, contributing to improving the value of custard apple products. The province hopes that, with the program, it will innovate backward production practices, encourage the spirit of self-reliance, self-confidence, creativity and entrepreneurship among people from all walks of life, guiding people to the economy market, promote production development, create employment opportunities in rural ares”, emphasized Mr. Nguyen Dinh Xuan - Director of Tay Ninh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.