Aromatic and delicious Son Dong jackfruits
Summer is also the season of ripe jackfruits, jackfruits from the countryside are sold everywhere. If you are travelling on the street, you will be attracted by a strong pleasant aroma of ripe jackfruit that makes you just want to swoop in, buy a part of jackfruit to bring home to enjoy.
In Hanoi, jackfruits in Son Dong, Son Tay have been famous for a long time because of its beautiful color, thick pulp, crispy and sweet taste, attractive aroma. Coming to Son Tay town, almost everyone has to find and buy themselves a few jackfruits, at least a piece of Son Dong jackfruit to enjoy.
If you have the opportunity to visit Son Dong commune, you will find that almost every family grows a few jackfruit trees in their garden. Due to the climate, soil quality, especially the harsh sun of the laterite land of Doai, jackfruits here have special tastes that few places can get. According to royal descent, Son Dong commune existed a long time ago, formerly called Co Lieu, the people here lived by farming, breeding and hunting wild animals. Now that the forest is gone, the people of Son Dong only grow crops, raise livestock, and sell jackfruits. Jackfruit in Son Dong is said to have existed since people came here to establish a village.
Son Dong jackfruit special fruit
Jury judged for the teams at the competition.
Photo: Pham Hao
The advantage of growing jackfruits is that these trees has few pests and diseases, no need to take care of them, just pay attention to pruning after each harvest so that the next crop will be more harvested. The Son Dong people have propagated jackfruit by selecting the best fruit trees to get seeds and germinate. The bigger the jackfruit tree is, the older it gets, the more the fruits are. The old jackfruits are picked, driven fresh bamboo stakes to the jackfruit stalks, dried in the sun for a few days to be ripen, aromatic and attractive. On average, a mature jackfruit tree brings income from 3-5 million VND, the fruitful trees give an income of over 10 million VND. Each ripen jackfruit season, people choose the best fruits to pay respects to their ancestors and pray for their blessings so that next year they can harvest more fruits. Son Dong jackfruit is also offer to the worship of the village’s tutelary god. Therefore, on 7th of first lunar month every year, it is indispensable for unripe jackfruit, also known as fifth-month jackfruit in the fruit tray to offer to the saints at Mang Son temple. Thanks to its special taste, for many years, jackfruits have become a high-income fruit in Son Dong commune. There are thousands of jackfruit trees planted in 18 villages in the commune, with the main breeding such as mít mật, mít dai, mít na, mít tố nữ. Son Dong jackfruit is not only sold in Son Tay and surrounding areas, but also sold by traders across the country, so the brand name of Son Dong jackfruit is becoming more and more popular.
In order to preserve and promote the value of traditional jackfruit trees, introduce and promote its products and brand of Son Dong jackfruit, and expand the jackfruit market, creating a stable source of income for people, Son Tay town has organized the contest “delicious and safe jackfruit” many times. From the contest, delicious and safe jackfruit trees in the area were selected for propagation. The 4th delicious and safe jackfruit contest in 2022 has just been held, attracting 11 teams from 10 villages in the commune and Truong Ban Son Dong to attend. The contest’s scoring criteria include jackfruit thorns, jackfruit pulp, taste, and presentation. At the end of the contest, the Organizing Committee awarded 1 first prize to the Tay Ninh village team, and 2 second prizes, 4 third prizes and 4 consolation prizes to the participating teams. Visitors to the contest have the opportunity to witness and enjoy the typical and special rustic product of Son Dong: jackfruit.
Mr. Nguyen Duy Cuong – Chairman of Son Dong Commune People’s Committee said that the commune had mobilized people to renovate mixed gardens and convert to growing jackfruit for many years. The commune had implemented many activities to help people develop their economy condition from jackfruit trees, such as organizing a contest of safe and delicious jackfruit, review the high quality jackfruit trees in 18 villages for conservation and propagation plans.
Son Dong also encourages the people to plant and replicate delicious, good quality jackfruit breeding that have been evaluated. Agricultural service cooperatives, including fruit purchasing groups, have been established to help people consume products and gradually build the Son Dong jackfruit brand.
Son Tay town has cooperated with the crop research institute to hybrid and produce the Son Dong jackfruit breeding that produces fruit all year round to supply the market. At the same time, the town government has planned a jackfruit growing area, and planed for building a factory to process the products from Son Dong jackfruit in their long-term plan.
Thanh Thanh