A farmer attaches to pepper tree

In 1989, from the Northern province of Thanh Hoa, right after arriving at An Binh commune, Phu Giao district, Nguyen Huu Trieu wished to make wealth on pepper tree. However, he faced many difficulties and after failures he has drawn precious experiences to turn his dream into the true.On these days, visiting An Binh commune where was used to be the metropolis of pepper tree in Binh Duong province, visitors will be surprised by narrowed area of pepper gardens.Vo Trung Dao, a cadre of An Binh commune, said "Bad weather and disease epidemics on plants made farmers impatient with pepper trees and they paid much attention to growing rubber trees, so the area of pepper plantations herein is under strong decrease. However, many farmers have still attached to pepper tree and enjoyed a stable life on this kind of tree".To prove his statement, Dao takes us to Nguyen Huu Trieu's pepper garden. Amid the immense rubber plantations, a spacious house nestles in rows of green pepper trees. In the end of 90s, Trieu's pepper garden reached an output of 500-600kg of dried pepper per year and price of the farm produce is sometimes at VND100,000 per kg. With the income, Trieu accumulated more capital to invest in an 1.5ha rubber plantation. At present, his rubber plantation has offered a stabilized income source. Thanks to the stabilized income from pepper and rubber trees, Trieu's family has possessed a spacious house with modern home appliances.Especially, Trieu's pepper garden has helped him rear his 3 children successfully. "All are thanks to pepper tree, so I determine not to destroy pepper tree", Trieu affirmed. Reported by T.Nam - Translated by A.C