Most 5,000 tonnes of Ba Be fragrant winter melon are sold out

There are five thousand tonnes of fragrant winter melon in the 2021 crop in Ba Be district, Bac Kan province, which was in danger of stagnation but has now been sold out.

Farmers in Ba Be district harvest fragrant winter melon in 2021. Photo: Toan Nguyen.

In the spring crop of 2021, Ba Be district planted 122ha of fragrant winter melon, concentrated in the communes of Dia Linh, Yen Duong, Chu Huong, My Phuong, and Thuong Giao. The yield is 40 tonnes per hectare, with a total output of nearly 5,000 tonnes. Compared to 2020, the entire area planted to fragrant winter melon increased by 46 hectares, and the whole production increased by about 1,800 tonnes.

There are two types of fragrant winter melon grown in Ba Be: white chalk-covered green skin (fragrant chalk winter melon) and dark green-skinned winter melon (fragrant green winter melon). However, both fragrant winter melon varieties have the same characteristics: all from the stem, leaves, flowers, and fruits are fragrant, and the fruit flesh is solid and firm.

Ba Be winter melon can be steamed, boiled, dried, or blended, very sweet, fragrant, and nutritious. Many people have taken the fragrant winter melon to plant elsewhere, but it is not suitable for the climate and soil, so the winter melon no longer smells like it grown in the land of Ba Be district. Therefore, although it is 3 to 4 times more expensive than regular winter melon elsewhere, Ba Be fragrant winter melon is still loved by consumers.

The Ba Be fragrant winter melon market is consumed in Bac Kan province as before and has been expanded all over the country. Modes of transportation are also very diverse such as direct transport by truck, by passenger car, or by forms of post offices and express delivery companies.

Determining that fragrant winter melon has great potential to develop into a specialty agricultural product area, over the past time, our province has integrated many programs, projects, mechanisms, and policies to support Ba Be district to improve productivity, quality, promote brand value.

Bac Kan province has implemented preserving genetic resources and native winter melon plants, supporting organic farming and VietGAP clean agriculture. From there, selecting and promoting well The most valuable characteristics of the fragrant winter melon, building a distribution channel of standard and uniform seed sources for farmers to cultivate, contribute to maintaining the delicious quality of the native winter melon varieties that cannot be found anywhere else.

Ba Be district directs specialized units to guide localities and groups of households to grow winter melon in the direction of clean agricultural products, applying science and technology to the production process, ensuring food quality and safety; encouraging and supporting the establishment of cooperative groups, cooperatives to join with households to grow and consume fragrant winter melon products, contributing to stable output, helping winter melon grow sustainably.

This year, households growing fragrant winter melon in Ba Be district have harvested the first fruits from the end of April. The harvest lasts about 3-4 months. The peak is in June and July every year. Ba Be fragrant winter melon has the advantage that if appropriately harvested, well preserved, it will be kept until the end of the year.

But this year's fragrant winter melon harvest took place at the right time of the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, and the transportation was complicated. As a result, the goods were difficult to consume. So, Ba Be District People's Committee leaders came to meet households and product consumption units to find a solution.

It was thought that the fragrant winter melon would fall into a state of stagnation and decay and had to be abandoned, so far, the primary consumption has been resolved, and there are no goods for sale. Growers in Ba Be were reassured that a difficult crop had passed. Although fragrant winter melon has decreased compared to previous years, farmers are still profitable after harvest.

Director of Thanh Duc Cooperative, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Duc, said that the cooperative has seven members, growing 6 hectares, plus linking with three other cooperative groups to grow 15 hectares of winter melon. When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, Thanh Duc Cooperative contacted many places and promoted in many forms to find output products. So far, more than 300 tonnes have been sold, only more than 20 tonnes left, no worries about being out of stock.

For Nhung Luy Cooperative, members have also applied the organic process of fragrant winter melon, using composted manure with probiotics to fertilize the plants, ensuring the product is safe for consumers. This year, the cooperative continues to sign contracts with ten cooperative groups to grow fragrant winter melon in Dia Linh and Yen Duong communes with an area of ​​​​about 23 hectares.

According to Ms. Dinh Tuyet Nhung, Director of Nhung Luy Cooperative, the cooperative cooperates with 230 households across the district, signing off on product consumption for each household of more than 1,000m2, equivalent to about 1,000 tonnes of winter melon. So far, all have been sold out, many orders have been canceled because there are no more goods to export.

This year, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, winter melon price is about VND 6,000 per kilogram, VND 2,000 lower than 2020. However, it still brings good profits to people, with a revenue of about VND 250 million per hectare, much higher than growing rice or other crops.