Strengthening the sloping land: Lush fruit orchard on a barren cliff

The story of Pham Duc Ly (Dai An 2 village, Ia Khuol commune, Chu Pah district, Gia Lai province) turning a barren mountainous area into a lush fruit orchard comes up as a mistery. Many people find it hard to believe that difficult fruit trees such as tangerines, oranges, and grapefruits can grow and develop well in such a barren sandy area, a place known as the land where"dogs eat stones, chickens eat gravel".

Conquering the land where "dogs eat stones, chickens eat gravel"

Pham Quy, Chairman of the Ia Khuol Commune Farmers’ Union, led us to Pham Duc Ly’s orchard, which is located close to the rocky cliff. The orchard is lush of green, the trees are planted in straight rows, subtly lying on the slope.

Ly's family settled in Ia Khuol in 1998. He started out as a motorbike repairman. Seeing that life was unstable, he switched to electrical construction. Later, when he had some capital, his family decided to buy a farm to do agriculture in preparation for the possibility of not having the health to do construction work when they are old.

“When I first bought a 1.4 ha plot of land right next to the cliff, many people laughed at me. People asked me if I was crazy to buy this land since no plants could grow here. Nobody would take the land even if it was given for free, but here I was, buying it to plant trees. Hearing that, I could only laugh. I told them that if the land was bad, I should improve it and add more fertilizer. The trees will grow,” said Ly.

The orchard at that time was mainly dry, sandy soil, even cassava could not survive. He began the renovation by plowing, collecting and discarding the gravel and rocks. Next, he spread layers of manure and sugarcane mulch to increase the nutrient contents in the soil. On the other hand, he let the grass grow naturally, then used a machine to cut the tops to create humus and increase the soil's moisture.

After the land was in a better condition, choosing plants became a difficult problem. Ly himself wanted to make a difference, so he went to many places to learn. He decided to choose citrus fruits such as tangerines, oranges, and grapefruits to plant.

The locals were even more surprised, thinking that he was being unreasonable because growing citrus trees in this kind of land gave the fruit an inedibly sour taste. However, Ly was thorough in his studies. He knew that it was actually a difference in seed variety. Ignoring the ridicule, he traveled to the West to choose the best quality seeds and bring them back to his orchard.

The “revolution” of bringing water from the mountains to the cliff

The orchard of Ly’s family is now over 6 years old but is still full of vigor, the yield is always high and stable. To achieve this, in addition to soil improvement and fertilization, irrigation water is a very important factor.

“When I started renovating the garden, I also considered the irrigation issue. I initially planned to build a reservoir and then bring water from the dam for use. Then, I accidentally discovered an underground water source on the top of the mountain and decided to install a pipeline to bring water to the orchard. The water from the mountain flows strong so there is no need to invest in a generator system. I just install water valves in the places where I need to water,” he said.

According to Pham Quy, Chairman of Ia Khuol Commune Farmers’ Union, the successful fruit growing model of Ly’s family on arid, sandy land is considered a miracle in the locality. Witnessing it with their own eyes, many households in the area are no longer skeptical. Instead, they come to learn from Ly and ask for his experiences so they can apply them to their family orchards.

“Ly’s fruit orchard model is very effective, bringing in several hundred million of VND in revenue each year. His family has also boldly invested in the land, mainly using organic fertilizers. In particular, Ly has also implemented a ‘revolution’ by bringing water from the mountains to the garden, so there is no fear of water shortage,” Quy said.

Ly believes that the most important factor for a sustainable orchard is to minimize the use of chemical fertilizers. Overuse of chemicals will cause the soil quality to deteriorate. His family's garden mainly uses biological fertilizers, cow manure combined with sugarcane mulch to fertilize the plants, and only uses a very small amount of chemical fertilizers when the plants are really needed to produce fruit in order to guarantee the fruit’s sweetness.