Mr. Son preserves and develops the special lotus orange variety.

Tri Le lotus oranges originated over 150 years ago in Sao Sa village, village 3, Khai Son commune, Anh Son district, and are a famous brand of Tri Le land, with a delicious, juicy, sweet orange flavor, golden segments and a characteristic aroma, ripening on the occasion of Lunar New Year starting from the beginning of the 12th lunar month and lasting until the end of January of the following year. Origin of the treeorangeAccording to legend, in the early 20th century, the lotus orange tree was in 4 households including Mr. Nguyen Canh Thinh, Mr. Pham Dac Chu, Mr. Pham Dac Khuong, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Trang in Dinh hamlet, Tri Le village, Khai Son commune.

Orange trees were planted in the Nuong Dinh area (alluvial land along the Lam River). In 1966, households migrated to the new village (now hamlet 2 and hamlet 3), including 3 households including Mr. Pham Dac Chu, Mr. Pham Dac Khuong, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Trang, who brought the Bu Sen orange variety to plant and then the descendants continued to maintain and plant it until today. Since then, households in the area have grafted branches to plant and develop this Bu Sen orange variety in Khai Son commune.

Currently, all levels and sectors of Anh Son district are gradually restoring and developing the lotus orange variety to create sustainable value for a typical product in Anh Son district. Photo: Thai Hien

We had the opportunity to visit the fruit tree growing model of Mr. Le Huu Hai's family in village 9, Khai Son commune, one of the households that preserves the lotus orange variety and has a large area in the locality.

Mr. Hai shared: Seeing the value of the lotus orange product and with the advantage of his family's available hilly land, he has preserved this variety of tree and currently propagated more than 500 trees, of which more than 300 trees have been harvested. Thanks to the application of techniques, the family's orange garden is often harvested during the Lunar New Year, which is very convenient for consumption. During last year's Tet, the lotus orange garden yielded more than 6 tons of fruit, with a selling price of 70,000 VND/kg, Mr. Hai earned over 350 million VND.

As for Ms. Dau Thi Giang's family in village 9, Khai Son commune, in recent years the family's main income has also come from the lotus orange garden. Ms. Giang shared: Currently, the entire land area of ​​her family has invested in planting 400 lotus orange trees, of which 150 have begun to be harvested, the rest are in the basic construction period. Every year before Tet, many customers come to the garden to buy this type of orange to eat, to offer to ancestors or as gifts.

To ensure the orange trees grow sustainably, Ms. Giang's family has carefully studied the care process. Not only paying attention to the care stage to make the orange garden delicious and beautiful, bringing consumers the highest quality oranges, but also to have clean orange products to serve the Lunar New Year, her family has applied science and technology to care from the beginning of the season, at the same time proactively fertilizing, finding ways to delay the ripening of oranges to sell them in time for Tet. Last year, during Tet, Ms. Giang's family earned over 200 million VND from oranges.

Mr. Le Huu Hai in village 9, Khai Son commune, is one of the households that preserves the lotus orange variety and has a large area in the locality. Photo: Thai Hien

Ms. Thai Thi To - Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Khai Son Commune (Anh Son) said: Currently, in Khai Son Commune, there are nearly 10 hectares of lotus oranges, basically ready for harvest, concentrated in the households of Mr. Pham Dac Ngoc in Hamlet 2; Mr. Le Huu Hai, Mr. Le Van Thanh, Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, Ms. Dau Thi Giang in Hamlet 9; Mr. Nguyen Huu Kim in Hamlet 7...

The characteristics of this variety of orange are that it is resistant to disease, drought and flooding better than other citrus trees. Oranges ripen before, during and after Tet. When ripe, the fruit is red or yellow or a combination of red and yellow. When peeling the orange, 80 - 85% of the fruits will have 2 hearts (small fruits on top) shaped like a lotus flower. The shiny red orange segments are surrounded by capillaries that are not separated like some other orange varieties. The orange has a rich sweet taste, slightly sour, salty, the orange segments are soft and dry, with a characteristic aroma that anyone who has tasted once will remember forever. When ripe, the fruit is not spongy at one end like other oranges. The price in the past few years has often fluctuated from 60,000 - 80,000 VND/kg, contributing to increasing the income of farmers.

Khai Son commune organized the launching ceremony of the professional association and the lotus orange cooperative. Photo: Thai Hien

Mr. Nguyen Dang Khoa - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Anh Son district said: Currently, the Bu Sen orange variety has expanded its area to 23 hectares in Khai Son commune, with an annual orange output of over 260 tons/year, and a revenue of nearly 20 billion VND. In order to preserve the origin and gradually restore and develop the Bu Sen orange brand of Tri Le village, recently, Anh Son district has coordinated with the functional branches of the province to organize field surveys to monitor, research, test and evaluate the growth and development process of the Bu Sen orange variety to better serve the propagation and expansion of the area.

Anh Son District Agricultural Service Center has implemented a project to build a nursery for propagating Anh Son lotus oranges, part of the science and technology project for the period 2021-2023, at Mr. Nguyen Huu Kim's garden in village 7, Khai Son commune with an area of ​​500 m², of which 150 m is reserved²Plant 30 original lotus orange trees to graft buds for fruit tree growing households in the whole district in the second year. According to the plan, 5,000 trees will be propagated in 3 communes Dinh Son, Khai Son and Phuc Son with an area of ​​4 hectares.

In addition, the Khai Son Commune Farmers' Association has also established a cooperative growing lotus oranges with 15 participating members, thereby creating close links in the process of consuming, introducing and promoting products.