These days, family of Tran Thi Ly in Lien Giang village, Huyen Son commune, one of the members at Luc Nam Custard Apple Cooperative, is busy with harvesting the late custard apples. Now, her household has grown 1.2ha of custard apples for 7 to 15 years which yields about 6 – 7 tonnes of fruits, 1 ton higher than the output of main season. 

Director of Luc Nam Custard Apple Cooperative Bui Van Quang (right) and member inspect the custard apples before harvest time.

With the average price of 35 – 40,000 VND per kg, her family expects to earn more than 210 million VND (over 9,000 USD) in this out of season crop.

Most of the local households are members of these two cooperatives with total area of nearly 100ha who have rich experiences in applying the science and technology into caring and pollinating additionally to the crop.

Thus, if other localities only gain 20 – 30 percent of main season productivity at the late crop, all custard apple areas of Nghia Phuong and Luc Nam Custard Apple Cooperatives give 5 – 10 percent higher output than official crop and 40 – 50 percent higher productivity than previous late seasons.

To get such result, the members of two cooperatives strictly follow the caring procedure and technique right after the main harvest. Besides, the farmers hardly use chemical fertilizers but the organic ones to the crop. Happily, this year late crop enjoys higher price than main season from 10 – 15,000VND per kg with easy consumption right at the orchard.

Than Thi Thoan, a trader from Hai Duong province shared: “Normally we must come early to collect the fruits then sell at several markets of Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Nghe An...The quality of late custard apple this year in Luc Nam is higher than previous time. The customers prefer late fruits because of its sweetness, thicker flesh, fewer seed comparing to the main season”.

Currently, Luc Nam district has more than 1,700 ha of custard apple, 87 percent of which are cultivated widely with pruning and additional pollination technique. It helps increase the productivity, quality, value as well as prolongs the harvest time from July to December annually.

Tran Thi Ly in Lien Giang village, Huyen Son commune checks the late custard apples before harvest time.

Most of the custard apples are grown in the communes of Huyen Son, Cuong Son, Nghia Phuong, Dong Phu, Dong Hung and Lan Mau which are locations granted with Certificate of Intellectual Property Right for Luc Nam custard apple by the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (Ministry of Science and Technology).

Director of Luc Nam Custard Apple Cooperative Bui Van Quang affirmed: “During production, we always remind the members to properly apply production procedure under VietGAP standard. When the fruits are small and green, the growers must cover them in nylon bags to prevent yellow flies and insects. Therefore, the local custard apples meet the food hygiene and safety standards and create prestige on the market”.

Thanh Nam – Hanh Nguyen

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