VietNamNet Bridge – A farmer in Da Lat City has successfully cultivated “clean strawberries” by using an electric current to kill insects.

Strawberries were brought to Vietnam by Europeans in the 19th century. In 1940, the first strawberries were planted by the French in Da Lat City, believed to be the land most suitable to the plant in the country.

Strawberry cultivation method in Da Lat remains unchanged. Farmers cultivate grow  saplings they split from the main plants.

Over dozens of years of development, strawberries in Da Lat have been affected by diseases which have led to lower yield and quality. This has forced farmers to use more and more plant protection chemicals, especially fungicides.

Previously, in order to be able to harvest strawberries after two months of cultivation, farmers had to spray pesticides once every three days.

However, nowadays, since the plants are attacked by too many diseases, farmers have to spray chemicals every day.

A report from the Lam Dong City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development released two years ago showed that the pesticide residue found in strawberries was 8-12 percent, unsafe for people.

Da Lat once faced the risk of losing its strawberry brand as cheap Chinese strawberries flooded the market.

In an effort to save the Da Lat strawberry brand, scientists and businesses tried to import strawberry varieties from the US, Taiwan, New Zealand and Europe to replace the old varieties.  

Meanwhile, some farmers in Da Lat tried the hydroponic technique to grow strawberries. However, the cultivation method was too costly, discouraging farmers.

Under such conditions, Nguyen Thanh Trung, a mechanic and farmer in Da Lat, decided to set to work on a solution to kill insects and protect strawberries from diseases while not using chemicals.

According to Trung, the biggest problem in the hydroponic method is that it is very difficult to measure how much fertilizer the plants need.

Trung had to work days and nights to find the optimal formula for mixing fertilizer for strawberries through drip irrigation.

As Trung repeatedly failed to find the formula, he wanted to give up his plan many times.

However, he was fortunate when receiving financial support from a food company in HCM City, which helped him continue his work.

One day, Trung accidentally heard an advert that a company was selling electric water which can kill fungi and pathogens, which prompted him to think of killing fungi spores with an electric current.

“Now I can kill bacteria and fungi gently with electricity, and there is no need to use pesticide,” he said.

One kilo of Trung’s strawberries can be sold for VND300,000, which is several times higher than the market price.

His strawberries have sold like hotcakes because consumers have been more reluctant in recent years to buy products that have a high pesticide residue, preferring cleaner products.

TBKTSG