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Plum harvest season in Bac Ha Plateau
  • | VietNamNet | July 06, 2011 06:39 PM

Ethnic minority people in Bac Ha plateau in the northern province of Lao Cai have begun to reap Tam Hoa plums, a specialty fruit of Lao Cai.

The 1,500-metre mountainous area is called the Bac Ha White Plateau because so many Tam Hoa plum trees are grown there. Nearly 30 years ago, Vu Duc Loi, head of the Bac Ha Plant Breeding Research Centre and his colleagues created a new variety of plum through cross-breeding and named it the “Tam Hoa” plum.

This plum has helped Mong, Tay and Phu La ethnic minority people escape from poverty and created new tours to visit the Bac Ha White Plateau in the spring, which have attracted many domestic and international tourists.

In Bac Ha district, plum trees are grown with maize.

As the most popular tree in Bac Ha, plum trees are also planted around houses.

Bac Ha plums often ripen in the fifth month but this year, this fruit ripened recently.

Ms. Giang Thi My in Ban Pho hamlet brings plums to the Bac Ha market for sales to earn higher price.

If she sells plums at the garden, she can earn VND5,000-10,000 per kilo.

Bac Ha plum is very famous in Vietnam but this fruit is not processed for export yet.

The price at the market is higher, from VND15,000-20,000 a kilo.

Local farmers are waiting for the state’s assistance to turn this specialty fruit into a key variety in Lao Cai.

 

 

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