A famer in Sóc Trăng Province's Kế Sách District, Trần Anh Nhân discovered strange varieties of purple milk star apple. — Photo dantri.com.vn

HCM CITY — Thanks to boldly investing in planting strange varieties of purple milk star apple, Trần Anh Nhân, a famer in Sóc Trăng Province's Kế Sách District, said every year, he earns about VNĐ2 billion(US$86,600) in profit.

Many years ago, he discovered a purple milk star apple tree in his father-in-law's garden.

Observed for a while, he saw that this variety bears fruit all year round. The current varieties on the market only bear a crop per year. His purple star apple fruit has a very thin skin and a moderate sweetness.

Knowing this is a precious milk star apple tree, he decided to invest in this variety.

After a period of cultivation, this farmer noticed that this variety can event grow in saline soil but has a very high yield. On average, 1,000 m2 can grow 25-30 trees.

With a cultivation area of about 10 hectares, last year the yield reached nearly 40 tonnes, Nhân said.

His purple star apple fruit has been exported to the US by an export company in Sóc Trăng Province and has been approved by this difficult market.

At current export prices of VNĐ30,000 ($1.3) per kilogramme, he earns VNĐ1.2 billion a year.

Besides, every month Nhân supplies about 10,000 of these seedlings to the Mekong Delta provinces.

Nhân plans to establish a specialised farming area for this type of purple milk star apple with a scale of more than 30 hectares to supply year-round supply to foreign markets. — VNS