Seedless lychee makes a good impression in the domestic market

A promising new lychee variety

On June 10, the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) led by Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien visited the seedless lychee growing model in Group 4, Nguyet An commune, Ngoc Lac district, Thanh Hoa.

This is an imported lychee variety which was selected and planted by Ho Guom - Song Am Hi-tech Agriculture Limited Liability Company in collaboration with the Agricultural Genetics Institute (AGI) in an area of approximately 30 ha.

Seedless lychee is produced according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP processes to meet export demand. When the lychee is ripe, it has a bright red color, the pulp is juicy, crispy. The fruit tastes sweet and its cover does not burn under the sun, not to mention it is easy to preserve. The advantage of this variety while cultivating is that it requires little care, does not have stem-end borer, can be harvested once a year for trees 4 years old and older, hence the high economic value.

2023 is the first year that Ho Guom - Song Am harvests lychees to sell to the market. The estimated output is 20 tons, with a wholesale price of VND 170,000/kg. Currently, the company's seedless lychee is present in many major domestic markets such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.

According to the representative of Ho Guom - Song Am, the company is currently working with AGI to continue testing and evaluating the effectiveness of this lychee variety to replicate the production model. “The development of seedless lychee contributes to opening a new direction in diversifying crops, increasing competitiveness and expanding consumer markets, and improving the economic value on production land”.

While visiting the model, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien and the delegates enjoyed the seedless lychee right in the garden. After the inspection, Deputy Minister Tien hoped this lychee variety would be replicated in many other localities within Thanh Hoa province. "With outstanding advantages, the seedless lychee of Ho Guom - Song Am Company can conquer meticulous markets at home and abroad".

Continue to replicate the seedless lychee model

At the working session with Ho Guom - Song Am Hi-tech Agriculture Limited Liability Company, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that in order to improve productivity and quality of seedless lychee, the company needs to establish production link chains from cultivation, harvesting, processing to export.

Apart from the planning strategy, the Deputy Minister emphasized the importance of investment in processing facilities. “Seedless lychee is a new factor in cultivation which can create a breakthrough in terms of value in the lychee industry. Therefore, we must proactively plan the planting area associated with the processing industry to develop this item. Besides, the crop should be spread to avoid the situation of concentrated harvesting in a short time frame. We also need to think of diversifying seedless lychee products, opening up opportunities to increase revenue”.

Speaking at the working session with the MARD delegation, Mr. Cao Van Cuong, Director of Thanh Hoa Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, committed to accompanying and coordinating with local businesses to expand the area of seedless lychee in the province.

“Thanh Hoa province has approved a project to develop fruit trees until 2030, which focuses on key crops suitable to the strengths of each locality. At present, seedless lychee is currently a prime factor in agroproduction in general and cultivation in particular. Therefore, this will be the focused crop of Thanh Hoa in the future,” he said.

Some other comments were also raised at the meeting, suggesting enterprises soon complete the trademark protection of seedless lychee and at the same time continue to select, propagate and test the variety to create stability for the seedless lychee production industry. Businesses need to promote production linkages along the value chain, calling for the participation of local people and cooperatives in order to develop sustainably in the face of market fluctuations.