The attraction of red-fleshed jackfruit OCOP 4-star Binh Phuoc

The sower

In Bu Dop district, Binh Phuoc province, the Global GAP jackfruit model of Mr. Nguyen Viet Vi - Director of Phuoc Thien Cooperative is considered a model for people to visit and learn.

Here, we have the opportunity to visit a jackfruit garden of tens of hectares, which is invested and planned in a way from an organic composting system, automatic irrigation, motor vehicles, to a beautiful park-like gathering and preliminary processing area. . Mr. Vi shared, having been attached to Bu Dop land since childhood, he knew very well about the local climate and soil potential. After failing with pepper, he, like many local people, boldly converted to fruit trees, but due to lack of scientific and technical knowledge, small and fragmented farming, the economic efficiency was not high. Many people are caught up in the vortex of "planting, cutting down".

In 2015, during a business trip with a friend, he was accidentally introduced and tried red jackfruit. What makes him like the most is the thick pulp of jackfruit, sweet taste mixed with vanilla flavor, eye-catching carrot-like red color that has stimulated him to learn at first sight. Through research, found that this jackfruit variety is easy to grow, has good disease resistance, high yield, grows in weather, climate and soil conditions quite similar to Vietnam in general and Binh Phuoc in particular, so he decided to bought nearly 100 seedlings for trial planting.

After 2 years of planting, the tree adapted quite well and gave the first fruit, not only keeping the quality of the leading variety, the tree also gave bigger and better quality fruit. Without hesitation, he and his colleagues in the cooperative immediately started researching, breeding PT79 branded varieties and mass planting.

According to Mr. Vi, in the past 2020 - 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to its special qualities, after launching into the market, red-fleshed jackfruit immediately attracted attention and was well received. heat. There is a time when the price of fresh jackfruit is nearly 100,000/kg, each jackfruit costs millions of dong but is still welcomed by consumers. Especially, after enjoying, most customers appreciate it and come back to use it. . In addition, many business owners and large supermarkets come to sign contracts to purchase products.

“This jackfruit variety has a short growth period, produces fruit all year round, adapts to all types of soil, especially, if cultivated in an organic direction, it will reduce input costs because the tree is not picky about fertilizers and less pests. The cost for each jackfruit tree is only 50,000 VND a year. Mature trees can give 15 - 30 fruits, each fruit weighs about 10kg. With proper care, the fruit can weigh up to 14-15kg. One hectare of land is planted with about 270 trees, if the price of jackfruit only needs to remain stable from 40,000 to 60,000 VND/kg, each hectare can bring in billions of VND in income after deducting costs," Vi revealed.

Deep processing, expanding the market

In order to develop cooperatives in general and jackfruit products in particular to be truly sustainable, deep processing and product diversification is an inevitable direction. Enlisting the support of local authorities and sectors, and taking advantage of the cooperative's resources, he built a factory to deeply process jackfruit products such as: vacuum-sealed fresh jackfruit and freeze-dried jackfruit… with approx. 100 tons of citrus/month.

Preliminary processing and deep processing of products not only help the cooperative solve the problem of preserving agricultural products, but also increase income for its members. In addition, with the initiative from production to the dining table, consumers have access to good products at affordable prices. Although the operation of the factory is gradually being completed, the initial success of the cooperative is the successful negotiation with a purchasing company in the Netherlands to import 2 tons of vacuum-sealed fresh jackfruit/week. About the cooperative's freeze-dried jackfruit products have been present in a number of retail agent chains inside and outside the locality.

“In order to continue to expand the market, the cooperative is actively applying traceability technology and actively searching for markets through e-commerce channels, electronic trading floors… Although it only accounts for 5% of the total The area of jackfruit in the whole province, but the products from red flesh jackfruit branded PT79 of the cooperative are gradually building their own foothold in the market thanks to the cooperative's flexible strategy", Mr. Vi shared.

After gaining a foothold in the market, not only enriching himself and the 22 members of the cooperative, Mr. Vi also actively shared varieties, production experience, and at the same time consumed all products for his relatives and friends. Cooperatives inside and outside the locality. In which, typical is Dac O Cooperative (Bu Gia Map district) with more than 100 members participating in the cultivation of jackfruit under the support of Phuoc Thien Cooperative.

As a guide for members of Dak O Organic Agricultural Cooperative to learn about and shake hands with Phuoc Thien Cooperative, Mr. Tran Van Khanh, Director of Dak O Organic Agricultural Cooperative, said, after a while learning about jackfruit trees. red flesh, found this plant to be very promising. Especially, when participating in the linkage chain, members not only have access to and support in standard varieties, farming techniques but also product consumption.

“With the commitment of Phuoc Thien Cooperative to accompany the people from the stage of technology transfer, care to product consumption, people in Dak O in particular and farmers in Binh Phuoc province in general will have more opportunities. association for stable and sustainable economic development," said Mr. Khanh excitedly.

According to Mr. Vi, in addition to ensuring transparency on product quality and safety, building a large enough raw material area and providing regular and continuous supply is a prerequisite for most successful businesses.

“The goal of the cooperative is to continue linking farmers, concentrated production according to organic processes to meet domestic and international standards to produce clean products, ensure food safety and hygiene, reduce investment costs. investment, increase income. At the same time, increasing competitiveness and stabilizing output. Currently, the cooperative has cooperated with 150 farmer households to grow over 1,000 hectares of jackfruit trees. The cooperative has set a goal by 2025 to expand its area to 3,000 hectares for specialized cultivation to create agricultural products, meet the needs of factories and aim for export," Vi affirmed.

Talking about jackfruit in Phuoc Thien Cooperative, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Director of Binh Phuoc Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that PT79 red flesh jackfruit of Phuoc Thien Cooperative is one of the products that have just been assessed and recognized to meet OCOP 4 standards. provincial star. The PT79 red-fleshed jackfruit of Phuoc Thien Cooperative is basically guaranteed in terms of standards, has the growing area code, traceability, and procedures for checking results, testing food safety, and environmental and product criteria. Exported according to VietGAP standards are eligible for products to reach the international market.