Lured by the charm of wurtz avocado garden which bears fruits super soon

During a working visit in the afternoon some days in March, we passed by Mr. Le Minh Hien’s avocado orchard in Hoa Khanh commune, Cai Be district, Tien Giang province. He is a mechanic but worked effectively in the agriculture sector. We were surprised by the garden with over a hundred fruiters, of which almost 40 trees yielded good fruits and were ready to enter the harvest period with expected production of over 1 ton.

Hien mentioned that he is passionate about agriculture as a result he invested hundreds of millions of dong to rebuild a 1,000-meter square mixed garden into a garden specializing in high-yielded avocado production. He remembered two years ago, he heard about the Thanh Son Wurtz avocado variety in Ben Tre, which develops fruit sooner than most and boasts good flavor so he decided to find out and bought the plant seedlings to try. The trees have produced fruits since its 16 months old until today.

“This crop was bountiful but we had been concerned about the output owing to the epidemic. I contacted the Thanh Son variety facility to seek output and the latter committed to underwrite the whole crop with a fixed price of VND 50,000 per kg. It is a good price especially in the difficult situation of the pandemic so we are so excited”, Hien eagerly shared.

When it comes to caring for the super-soon Wurtz avocado trees, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son- the owner of Thanh Son seedling nursery in Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province noted that each cultivation field demands different care methods. Hien’s garden has hilly and clayey soil so it is vital to have high mounds and drainage ditches, and dry areas for the trees to grow well and prolong their life. In the dry season, it is vital to water twice a day to keep the plants moist for healthy development and speedy ripening.

The Thanh Son Wurtz avocado is the variety with large and compacted fruit, largely is the edible part. Due to the tree's adaptability and susceptibility to pests and diseases, it needs limited use of foliar fertilizers and pesticide sprays. When the avocado tree reaches the age of three years or more, it will produce seasonal and off-season fruit depending on the gardener's care. To care for off-season trees, people only need to distribute manure to establish healthy buds and then dry press to stimulate pseudobulbs. The output of mature Wurtz avocado trees is between 25 and 30 tons per hectare. This is a novel crop with enormous potential for Mekong Delta agriculture.