In ecological dragon fruit cultivation, soil improvement must come first

Author:Dragon Fruit Growers Alliance

Careful selection of planting varieties

The farm chose 2 dragon fruit varieties: one is Crystal, introduced from South China Agricultural University, and the other is Xiangmilong, introduced from Taiwan, China. Although among the many red-fleshed dragon fruit varieties these belong to the medium-to-low yield category and require manual cross-pollination between different plants, the farm owner Chen Sheng still chose these varieties.

At the end of June, the dragon fruits about to ripen.

Ripe dragon fruit, with crystal-clear, plump flesh.

Why choose to grow these two varieties when the yield is low and cultivation requires so much extra labor? They have their own unique advantages:Thin skin and tender flesh, delicately sweet without being cloying, and with a rich fragrance that leaves a lingering aroma in the mouth after tasting.

Establishing its own ecological technical system

This year is the 4th year of ecological dragon fruit cultivation. Farm owner Chen Sheng and his wife Xiaotian are not from an agricultural background and do not have much professional training themselves, but they are extremely focused and hardworking. Chen Sheng says that almost all of his spare time is spent reading all kinds of books on ecological agriculture!

After more than 3 years of practice, Puran Farm has already built its own complete ecological technical system: maintaining soil and water through orchard grass cover and improving the farm's ecological environment; supplementing nitrogen fertilizer with cake fertilizer, phosphorus fertilizer with bone meal, and potassium fertilizer with plant ash; using plant ash soaked in water to prevent and control diseases, and using mesh bags to prevent and control pests.

Combining planting and raising livestock

The farm raises black goats and ducks. The black goats can eat grass, greatly reducing the cost of manual weeding; the ducks can eat snails, reducing the damage snails cause to dragon fruit. Their manure decomposes naturally in the soil and can also provide nutrients to the soil.

Valuing biodiversity

Passion fruit is intercropped among the dragon fruit, and pink banana and green jujube are also planted, with a few pineapple, roselle, guava, jabuticaba, pear trees, moringa, and others scattered around, exploring the possibilities of growing different crops while also increasing biodiversity and providing the family with a more abundant food supply.

Putting soil improvement first

Mushroom residue compost.

The tank for fermenting peanut bran.

In the rice straw mulching experiment, the soil was noticeably looser and more breathable than with grass cover alone.

In the rice husk mulching experiment, the soil color was darker, the effect of improving the soil was better, and there were also strong earthworms.

Puran Farm's ways of improving the soil are: first, leaving grass to increase biodiversity and maintain soil and water, cutting the grass once it exceeds 40cm and returning it as mulch to the soil. Second, goat and duck manure to increase organic matter. Third, applying compost such as mushroom residue and Chinese herbal medicine residue, as well as peanut bran, plant ash, bone meal, and others. Fourth, continuously testing better ways to improve the soil, such as bark compost, mushroom residue compost, rice straw mulching, and rice husk mulching, actively seeking better methods.

Physical pest control

Snails and fruit flies are relatively major threats to dragon fruit. Snails are handled by the ducks, and during the dragon fruit ripening period, fruit flies are dealt with using light-transmitting, breathable, reusable mesh bags. There are also ants and cutworms, but because the ecological environment is good, they did not cause large-scale damage, so no action was taken against them.

A "paraquat" herbicide bottle on the ground in a nearby orchard.

Diseased and weak dragon fruit plants bore almost no fruit, a total crop failure.

In sharp contrast, we walked to a nearby conventionally farmed dragon fruit orchard and found that it had already been abandoned. In 2016, the entire region suffered acid rain, and most conventionally grown dragon fruit had a total crop failure, while Puran Dragon Fruit Orchard, which uses ecological cultivation methods, was affected very little, demonstrating the advantages of excellent ecological cultivation.