Preserving the Cam Bu Sen and Xa Doai varieties of oranges in Nghe An province.

Selection of Anh Son mandarin orange varieties

Mr. Pham Van Ngoc, residing in Hamlet 2, Khai Son Commune, is always proud of the mandarin orange orchard that his grandparents and parents planted in Hamlet 3, Khai Son Commune, over 100 years ago. From 1986-1987, his family continued to propagate the trees, developing the orchard, and it continues to thrive and produce high-quality fruit to this day.

Currently, Mr. Ngoc's mandarin orange orchard has 500 trees. His oranges are bought directly from the orchard by traders, eliminating the need to sell them at the market. Each year, the orchard generates a stable income of approximately 700 million VND. This is a dream income for any family in the mountainous region.

Having spent decades tending to these oranges, Mr. Ngoc has gained a thorough understanding of this variety. At the bottom of each orange, there's always a small "secondary fruit," which, when cut open when ripe, also contains four segments. When the orange is split open, it resembles a lotus flower, emitting a fragrant aroma, hence its name "lotus-shaped fruit." The segments are juicy yet firm, encased in a net-like membrane, and offer a rich, appealing sweetness that melts in your mouth.

Many of the orange trees in Mr. Ngoc's garden have been evaluated by the Department of Science and Technology as superior parent trees. Over time, he has continued to prune, shape, and propagate them through grafting to meet the needs of local people.

This is a rare native orange variety with advantages such as good quality, resistance to pests and diseases, and high yield. Therefore, Anh Son district has determined that it must protect and propagate this valuable orange genetic resource. The Anh Son orange variety conservation project has been approved, with the District Agricultural Services Center as the main investor.

The project management board investigated and assessed the current status of cultivation and production of Anh Son mandarin oranges in terms of geography, cultivated area, yield, production, cultivation methods, growth and development, and pest and disease problems; and conducted a preliminary survey of Anh Son mandarin orange orchards participating in the selection of superior trees. Subsequently, they surveyed and selected locations and households to participate in building model farms.

The project selected superior mother trees of the Cam Bu Sen variety according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. After selecting the best trees (in terms of growth, yield, and quality), the project will draw a map locating the selected trees and create a table to mark the superior mother trees for conservation.

From these parent trees, after a quality assessment process, engineers selected 15 of the highest-quality trees for propagating Anh Son pomelo oranges. This process was supported by citrus experts from the North Central Agricultural Science and Technology Institute.

From 15 high-quality trees, the Project continued to select 10 outstanding trees in the first season, monitoring their growth, development, yield, and fruit quality. Eight outstanding trees with superior yield and quality characteristics were selected to be registered for the selection of mother trees. Subsequently, dossiers for the recognition of these mother trees were submitted to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development then established a selection council to recognize the mother trees that met the requirements.

Next, the project proceeds with managing and caring for the mother trees, attaching them with sequential numbers. The Agricultural Service Center, the Department of Agriculture, and other functional units of Anh Son district are responsible for coordinating with the people to manage and care for the mother trees to harvest fruit and exploit grafting buds for production and propagation of mandarin oranges.

With positive results, the project has now propagated more than 10,000 mandarin orange saplings to distribute to people in the project area.

Preserving and developing Xa Doai oranges.

Regarding the Xã Đoài orange variety, a large-scale conservation project has been successfully implemented in Nghi Diên commune (Nghi Lộc district) by a business enterprise. The orange conservation farm has Japanese experts assisting in monitoring and management. This 12-hectare farm is owned by Mr. Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn, who invested billions of VND. The orange trees are strictly managed and protected, with a complete irrigation system. Currently, the oranges are in their second harvest, selling at the farm for 50-70 thousand VND/kg, mainly exported to Hanoi.

Another large Xa Doai orange farm owned by Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao, recently established in Nghi Dien commune (Nghi Loc district), is entering its first year. This is a Xa Doai orange conservation farm where Mr. Giao selected valuable parent trees and conducted rigorous disease testing with the support of experts from the Vietnam Fruit Tree Breeding Institute.

Xã Đoài oranges are a fruit with a distinctive aroma and sweet taste, possessing wide adaptability, high yield, and stable productivity in various ecological regions. However, only oranges grown in Nghi Diên commune produce the best quality, command the highest prices, and are the most popular. Currently, Xã Đoài oranges are grown in several localities such as Yên Thành and Con Cuông. The main propagation methods are grafting or budding.

Along with the aforementioned farms, some residents of Nghi Dien commune are also preserving valuable orange trees that have yielded high economic returns for decades...

Given the current decline in orange varieties in Nghe An province, the breeding of high-quality oranges as described above shows a new, more certain, and sustainable direction, promising new generations of oranges with superior varieties, limiting the supply of orange varieties from other provinces whose origin is not yet controlled.