Secret to have a good harvest in the failed pomelo crop

Late rain and hoarfrost make Pomelo orchards empty

Hoai An midland district is the "capital" of fruit trees in Binh Dinh province with an area of over 1,650 hectares, concentrated in the communes of An Tuong Tay, An Tuong Dong, An Tin, An My, An Hao Dong, An Hao Tay and the town of Tang Bat Ho.

According to the Agricultural Service Center of Hoai An district, there are 420 hectares of pomelos of all ages, of which more than 100 are in the fruiting period. Last year, at the time when pomelo trees were flowering, in Hoai An district, there was heavy rain and hoarfrost, and pomelo flowers fell tattered, making this year's pomelo crop almost empty of fruit, only branches and leaves swaying sadly in the wind. According to the assessment of the functional sector, this year's pomelo crop in Hoai An has lost 70% of its output.

Mr. Bui Quoc Cuong (69 years old) in Lien Hoi village, An Huu commune (Hoai An district), owns 100 pomelo trees planted in an area of 2500m2, of which 90 trees bear fruit. Mr. Cuong said pomelo flowers often a year; growers can control and choose the time for the tree to flower and bear fruit at their discretion. It takes about eight months from the pomelo tree flowers to the fruit harvest time.

Last year, pomelo growers in Hoai An mostly let pomelos flower in October and November of the lunar calendar because usually, in Binh Dinh, the rain and wind have stopped. However, in the last months of last year in Binh Dinh, there was heavy rain for a long time; Hoai An was no exception; this midland region had frost, causing the pomelo flowers to fall in tatters. That is the cause of this year's pomelo crop. Hoai An's farmers lost revenue.

In addition to the areas that flowered pomelos at the time of October and November of the lunar calendar last year due to late rain, so this year they lost their productivity, there are still some gardeners in Hoai An because they grasp the properties of pomelo trees, so they beveled the next flower. Because pomelo flowers bloom many times a year, after the pomelo flowers fall, they continue to actively take care of them so that after the Lunar New Year of the Rabbit 2023, the Pomelo will produce new flowers. Grapefruit fruiting in this flowering period has yet to be harvested. Only the areas of pomelos that gardeners flowered in September of last year's lunar calendar avoided the late rains at the end of the year, so they did not lose flowers and are currently being harvested.

According to Mr. Bui Quoc Cuong's share, after decades of taking care of 90 "old grapefruit" trees, he has learned from experience that if he wants to make pomelos flower at any time, one month before that, he should apply a specialized compound fertilizer for Grapefruit tree helps the tree to be strong, only one month later it will flower.

Breeding weaver ants to kill pests and planthoppers for pomelos

Mr. Bui Quoc Cuong's 4,500m2 pomelo garden in Lien Hoi village (An Huu commune) is one of the few pomelo areas in Hoai An district that gives a decent income in the grapefruit crop in 2023. According to Mr. Cuong, thanks to his pomelo garden. With good care and management from the beginning, in this year's pomelo crop, each tree gives an income of VND 1 million.

"For pomelos to be sold at a good price, growers must keep their weight not to exceed 2.2kg/fruit, nor lower than 1.4kg/fruit to sell at the price of grade 1 pomelos. Grapes under 1,4kg/fruit or over 2.2kg/fruit will be purchased at the price of grade 2 pomelo; gardeners will lose revenue. If, near harvest, the pomelo garden grows too strong, it must be applied early potassium fertilizer to slow down the weight gain of the fruit. I take care of the pomelo garden very carefully, so the fruit is very regular; there are few fruits that fall into category 2," said Mr. Cuong.

When we visited Mr. Cuong's house, we saw on the summer a bag of pomelos he and his wife had prepared to send to distant relatives as a gift from the countryside. We asked Cong Cuong's wife to take out the pomelo bag to "show" the uniformity of the pomelos. Indeed, dozens of pomelos in the pack are almost the same size, each pair weighing 3.5kg, proper to the standard of type 1.

"With the central climate, starting from January every year, pomelos have been harvested, depending on when the gardener lets the plants flower. However, suppose any gardener grows pomelos harvested from April to September of the lunar calendar. In that case, they will be able to sell at a reasonable price because pomelos harvested during this period are very delicious. If harvested in January, grapefruit will not be sweet, the citrus will be brittle and dry, so consumers don't like it, the price is low, "said Mr. Cuong.

When visiting Mr. Cuong's harvested pomelo garden, almost all of Mr. Cuong's fruits were gathered; we found that under each pomelo tree, he had a bag of organic fertilizer that was still tightly and unopened. Mr. Cuong explained: "I have prepared these bags of fertilizer but have not applied it now because if I apply it now, the plants will bloom and blossom immediately."

While taking us to visit the pomelo garden, Mr. Cuong confided: Before, when he was not a member of Thanh Nien Agricultural Cooperative, he took care of his pomelo garden in the traditional way, so it was convenient for him to do it productivity is poor and very precarious, not as stable as it is now. Since being a member of Thanh Nien Agricultural Cooperative, he opens the zoo every week to see the pest situation, instructions on prevention, and the process of fertilizing each stage for pomelo trees to grow by the staff's updated cooperative techniques.

While walking in the pomelo garden, Mr. Cuong advised: "Don't stand under the nests of yellow ants I raise on the tree; the ants will fall and bite you." Looking closely at the pomelo trees, I see many clusters of leaves stuck together outside the giant yellow ants running around the grapefruit leaves.