Opportunity to get rich from restoring Bai Phu orange brand

(Baonghean) - To create opportunities to get rich and affirm the economic position of orange trees in the place once known as the "capital" of delicious oranges in Nghe An, Dinh Son commune (Anh Son) is implementing a project to restore the Bai Phu orange brand. This good signal is attracting the attention and strong direction of all levels of the industry from the province, district to the local level.

In the last days of June, the sun was blazing hot, but the orange gardens about to enter the business season in Thang Tam village, Bai Phu farm, Dinh Son commune (Anh Son) were still green and full of life. Mr. Bui Van Tien's orange garden in Cua Thung currently has 250 Xa Doai orange trees, planted for more than 27 months, and is now entering the basic construction phase. Mr. Tien shared: In Cua Thung area, there are 4 households investing in the orange growing model according to the Bai Phu orange restoration project implemented by the commune.

The electricity system and wells in the orange growing area under the project to restore the Bai Phu orange brand are invested synchronously.

Each household contributed 40 million VND to invest in machinery systems, drilled wells, power lines, and a system of concrete fences with barbed wire... to help protect the orange garden. The entire Thang Tam village has 20 households growing oranges according to the project, of which 10 hectares have started the business phase, 10 hectares are under basic construction, the first and second years. Thanks to investment in regional planning, irrigation systems and guaranteed power grids, people are completely proactive in growing oranges, avoiding risks, oranges grow well, fruit is abundant and round, and the harvest season is forecasted to be bountiful.

The inter-family orange garden of Mr. Nguyen Duc Than and Mr. Nguyen Huu Thang in Hamlet 3/2, Dinh Son Commune currently has 800 orange trees planted 3 years ago. According to Mr. Than, orange is a crop that has affirmed its adaptability and brand since the previous period. However, it was not until the current stage of planting under the restoration project that people took the initiative to invest comprehensively and scientifically intensively. Thanks to good care, Mr. Than's orange garden can achieve a yield of 40 tons/ha, with a selling price of 40,000 - 60,000 VND/kg, growing oranges brings in an income of nearly 400 million VND/ha, 7.8 times higher than many other agricultural commodity crops...

With the potential of a long, flat limestone strip creating a typical soil quality at Bai Phu Farm, it is a favorable and suitable natural condition for orange trees to grow, creating fragrant, sweet oranges with beautiful appearance, ripe fruit with bronze skin and bright yellow flesh, which are very valuable. However, after a while, the orange brand here gradually faded away. Faced with this situation, in 2013, the Party Committee and the government of Dinh Son commune developed a project to restore the Bai Phu orange brand, with an implementation scale of 3 villages: Thang Tam village, 3/2 village and Bong Khe village (bordering Con Cuong), the implementation period started from 2011. The orange varieties selected to implement the project include Xa Doai, Van Du and V2. These are orange varieties with many good features, suitable for the soil quality, climate and farming practices of the people.

The orange growing model according to the Bai Phu orange tree restoration project has invested in a guaranteed water and electricity system.

Restoring the Bai Phu orange brand is a practical task for building the Nghe An orange brand. This has also been a concern for many years of the Anh Son district government in general and Dinh Son commune in particular. Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu - Chairman of Dinh Son Commune People's Committee said: During the implementation of the Bai Phu orange tree restoration project, thanks to the people's orientation and strong direction, orange growers have boldly borrowed bank loans, invested in grid power systems, drilled wells, and B40 barbed wire fences. Plowing, harrowing, and care have been mainly mechanized to replace manual labor.

In 2013, 20 households growing oranges under the project were lent 600 million VND by the Provincial Farmers' Association, an average of 30 million VND/household. Up to now, the investment in planting and restoring the Bai Phu orange brand is being accelerated by all levels, sectors and localities. Households in the project area have planted and planned 48 hectares of oranges, currently the oranges are in a good development stage, most of them are about to enter business and harvest with forecasted outstanding productivity and quality.

The 3-year-old orange garden of Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa's household - Cua Thung - Thon August is about to enter the business phase.

However, through discussions with many orange growers in building a model according to the project to restore the Bai Phu orange brand, they still face many difficulties in paying debts and investing. Their wish is to extend the loan contract for another 2 years to have the opportunity to rotate capital and reinvest in the model. Discussing the above questions with Mr. Nguyen Huu Nhi - Chairman of the Provincial Farmers' Association, it is known that: Up to now, the Provincial Association has not received specific proposals from districts and communes about the above difficulties of orange growers.

However, according to the general direction, the project to support investment capital to restore the Bai Phu orange brand in Dinh Son commune is used from the farmer support fund entrusted by the Central Farmers' Association for loans, with a loan term of 3 years in the form of no interest (only collecting management fees). During the investment process, the provincial association found that Bai Phu Farm is a good land, which has affirmed the Bai Phu orange brand for a time. Investing in orange trees requires strict capital, science and technology and intensive farming skills.

The households growing oranges under the project are mostly selected as workers of Bai Phu farm, with good skills and traditions in caring for oranges, and have suitable land for growing orange trees. On the other hand, according to the fund's charter, the extension of loans for households is not included in the regulations. Therefore, the viewpoint of the Provincial Farmers' Association is to continue withdrawing the investment capital of these 20 households to continue investing in expanding for 10-20 farming households that have not had the opportunity to borrow capital in order to spread and replicate the investment model, and restore the Bai Phu orange brand.

Article and photos:Luong Mai