Plums in season in Bac Ha Plateau

The Tam Hoa plum, a specialty of the Bac Ha plateau in Lao Cai province, ripens in early June every year. Bac Ha district is home to around 500 hectares of plum trees, most of them grown in Bac Ha town, and in the six communes of Ta Chai, Ban Pho, Lung Phinh, Thai Giang Pho, Na Hoi and Nam Mon.

Ripen plums in bunches.
Ripen plums in bunches.

Bac Ha's Tam Hoa plums are greenish-red and tastier than other plums.

This year, Bac Ha district has seen an estimated output of over 3,500 tonnes of Tam Hoa plums, an increase of 450 tonnes year-on-year.

To boost the consumption of Tam Hoa plums, the district’s authorities have focused on advertising the fruit on e-commerce platforms. Most recently, the district’s centre for agricultural services has coordinated with Lao Cai provincial Post to commence the sale of Tam Hoa plums on the Postmart e-commerce platform.

Tam Hoa plum trees in Bac Ha plateau begin to ripen at the end of May, and the harvesting season takes place in June every year.

A five-year-old plum tree can produce many quintals of fruits.

Tam Hoa plums have a sweet-and-sour taste and have small pits.

Ripe Tam Hoa plums on sale at a local market in Bac Ha town.

Tam Hoa plums are sold at an average of price of VND30,000 to VND35,000 per kilogramme.