(VOVworld) – Le Duc Giap of Thanh Oai district, Hanoi, has become well-known in Vietnam for successfully grafting trees that yield 5 to 7 kinds of fruits which are typically used on offering trays. These trees bear fruits that ripen at the same time. Giap’s multi-fruit bearing trees are unique, adding more color to Tet, the traditional lunar New Year festival.

Giap’s garden has more than 100 multi-fruit bearing trees. Giap says this is the result of his efforts for more than 10 years. Giap first chose to graft different kinds of citrus fruits: orange, mandarin, kumquat, and lemon onto grapefruit trees. He said: “With many years of grafting experience, I decided to create multi-fruit bearing trees. The 5-fruit bearing tree symbolizes the 5-fruit tray on the ancestral altar during Tet. I created this kind of tree for people to decorate their houses during Tet and to demonstrate the dexterity, determination, and passion of Vietnamese farmers.”

To make all the fruits ripen at Tet, Giap has to take care of each tree from January and begin grafting grapefruit in April, orange and mandarin in May and June, and finally kumquat and Buddha’s hand in August of the lunar calendar. In 2009 Giap succeeded in grafting the 5-fruit bearing tree after many years of failure. His trees are unique and colorful with yellow fruits, green leaves and fragrant white flowers. His trees are believed to bring good luck in the New Year.   

   

Each 5 or 7-fruit bearing tree costs up to 400 USD and most of the trees in Giap’s garden are ordered by people from many parts of Vietnam. Nguyen Xuan Phong of Lao Cai province said this year he bought 10 trees for his family and relatives: “I really admire Giap for grafting trees that yield 5 different kinds of fruits which ripen at the same time at Tet. In addition to other traditional trees such as kumquats and peach, I bought some 5-fruit bearing trees for Tet and hope they will bring my family luck and prosperity.”

Giap’s family is the only in the area that plants multi-fruit bearing trees and they can’t keep up with the demand for Tet. Giap says any gardener can succeed with passion, a sense of aesthetics, and a good choice of fruits and branches for grafting: “I think that my model is quite economically efficient and can contribute to the movement to build new rural areas. This yields profits 5 or 6 times higher than growing rice. We are willing to help others with the grafting techniques.”

In addition to multi-fruit bearing trees, Giap’s family leased 5,000 square meters of land to plant orange and lemon trees.

They have been pioneers in crop restructuring in the locality. Nguyen Dang Phuong, Party Secretary of Cao Vien commune, said: “Giap’s idea of multi-fruit bearing trees is a good business model for farmers in Cao Vien. We definitely support it.

Giap was named one of Hanoi’s 10 Outstanding Citizens in 2012.