Nghe An 'rescues' prematurely degenerating orange garden

Phu Huong• DNUM_BIZBBZCACB 09:44

(Baonghean.vn) - From 2018 to now, Nghe An has had over 1,400 hectares of orange trees cut down due to poor quality and early degeneration. Finding the cause, building a standard production process, and replicating successfully "rescued" orange garden models are being implemented by the agricultural sector.

Efficiency from applying standard farming processes

Last year's orange crop, despite the garden being flooded,orange fallAlthough the orange garden of Mr. Phan Trong Bao's family in Dinh Hop hamlet, Dinh Son commune, Anh Son district was affected by the storm circulation combined with the flood discharge from hydroelectric power plants, it still produced 13 tons of fruit, earning 130 million VND, of which nearly 41.5 million VND was net profit, nearly 13.5 million VND higher than the control farmer's orange garden.

“This is something that just a year ago, I would never have dared to dream of. Because after a harvest, the orange garden had yellow wilted leaves, the disease spread very quickly, within just a month, half of the orange garden was affected by this phenomenon” - Mr. Bao said. Frustrated, Mr. Bao decided to cut down the orange trees and switch to growing tea. Luckily, when he had just cut down 13 orange trees, he was advised and guided by a plant protection officer to carry out the care process, saving his family’s 1-hectare orange garden.

Mr. Bao's family's orange garden has turned green again. Photo: Phu Huong

After only a few harvests, the 500-tree orange garden of Mr. Nguyen Quang Thuan's family in Nua village, Yen Khe commune, Con Cuong was of poor quality, the leaves turned yellow and fell off, the trees grew poorly and slowly; many trees still had fruit on them but were "dumb" and "sagging", his family did not bother to harvest. However, this year's orange season, although it was only the second year of care following the process instructed by plant protection officers, his family's orange garden not only recovered well, but its yield was also among the top in the region, up to 3 tons/ha.

Most of the orange varieties grown in the area are grafted by people themselves or bought floating seedlings of unknown origin from Nghia Dan and Quy Hop districts. Improper care, fertilization, and pest control procedures have caused quite serious consequences, with many orange gardens degenerating rapidly.

Mr. Lang Van Ban, Director of Con Cuong District Public Service Center.

By early 2021, the total orange area in the province was 4,702 hectares. And from 2018 to now, the area of oranges cut down due to poor growth and development has reached over 1,340 hectares. "Faced with the trend of people massively expanding the area, many production facilities have appeared.orange seed businessrampant, uncontrolled quality of seedlings, especially genetic resources and pests. In the care process, people mainly rely on experience and learn from each other, so they have not implemented it correctly" - Mr. Trinh Thach Lam - Head of Plant Protection Department, Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of the province is concerned.

Replicating effective models

In the province's orientation, in the coming years, citrus trees in general and orange trees in particular will still be one of the main crops, serving domestic demand and aiming for export. It is expected that by 2025, the orange area will reach 6,700 hectares. However, this is a crop that requires high cultivation techniques and investment in care.

Officers of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection inspect and guide the orange care process. Photo: Phu Huong

In 2019,Department of Crop Production and Plant Protectionimplemented an integrated nutrition and pest management model, from which technical guidelines were developed to overcome the phenomenon of "dumb orange", yellow leaves, and root rot in Nghia Dan, Con Cuong, and Quy Hop districts.

“We conducted an investigation to determine the evolution and occurrence of major pests on orange trees in the model area; identified the causes of poor quality oranges, fruit drop, yellow leaves and root rot. At the same time, we applied the basic principles of IPM and ICM to build the model and synchronously applied technical solutions in orange production. From there, we synthesized solutions to transfer to orange growers in the whole province.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc, Head of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection

Vinh orange garden full of fruit in Dong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Up to now, after 2 years of implementation, the models have initially achieved certain successes, contributing to improving orange production techniques towards good, sustainable, safe and environmentally friendly agricultural production to restore productivity and quality of the specialty brand "Vinh Orange". People have used safe pesticides and followed the 4 correct methods, applying integrated pest management IPM. Balanced fertilization has helped orange trees absorb and metabolize nutrients to nourish the trees, thereby limiting the phenomenon of poor quality oranges, fruit drop, yellow leaves and root rot.

From that result, the area of orange trees applying the correct care process has been expanded, many early degenerative orange gardens have been successfully "saved".