Tan Lac district enters grapefruit harvest season

In December, Tan Lac district began harvesting grapefruits - the most well-known local specialty.

Photo: In order to ensure productivity, VietGAP-standard grapefruit orchard brings revenue of over 200 million VND to Bui Van Vinh family in Dong Tien village, Dong Lai commune, Tan Lac district.

This year, nearly 100 grapefruit trees of Bui Van Vinh, a farmer in Dong Tien village, Dong Lai commune, Tan Lac district, yielded well again. The most fruitful tree bears over 500 fruits while the rest has 300 fruits per tree on average. All grapefruit trees are cultivated under VietGAP standards so that their output, quality and consumption are also ensured, bringing a stable income to his family.

Like Vinh’s family, the family of hamlet chief Luong Ba Cuong is excited to enter the grapefruit harvest season. Cuong said the village is home to 70 houses which all grow grapefruit trees on a total area of ​​over 20ha. His family and 22 others join the Dong Lai clean farm produce cooperative with 10ha of grapefruits grown under VietGAP standards. Though newly established since early 2017, the cooperative has so far achieved remarkable results. Up to 53 cooperative members are realising a plan to bring Tan Lac red-flesh grapefruits to the market. To do that, all fruits must meet high quality standards, particularly 30ha of grapefruits which have achieved VietGAP quality standards.

At present, Tan Lac district boasts 52ha of VietGAP-certified grapefruits in Dong Lai, Thanh Hoi and Tu Ne communes. Its total ​grapefruit farming area has soared from nearly 110ha in 2013 to about 1,046ha, mostly in low-lying communes.

Around 395ha of Tan Lac grapefruits are ready for harvest now. Each ha of red-flesh grapefruits yields 35,000 fruits on average, equivalent to 30 tonnes per ha at the price of nearly 15,000 VND per fruit, bringing an average income of 525 million VND per ha per crop. For green skin grapefruits, the average yield is 15,000 fruits per ha, or 20 tonnes per ha at the price of roughly 30,000 VND per kg, bringing an average income of 600 million VND per ha per crop.

With high economic value during the crop, grapefruits promise to bring high incomes to hundreds of local households.