Sweet oranges of Phu Quy

(Baonghean) - For many years now, around the Lunar New Year, the orange growing area in Phu Quy has always been bustling with customers. With the Vinh orange brand protected, orange growing families have had a stable source of income and become quite rich.

Orange varieties on the red basalt soil of Phu Quy are mainly specialty orange varieties, late ripening such as Xa Doai orange, Van Du orange and V2 orange. In December 2010, the Department of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology granted a certificate of protection for the geographical indication "Vinh" for the orange fruit product of Nghe An province. Up to now, the Vinh orange brand produced by Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company (Quy Hop) is present in many localities and large cities across the country during the last days of the Lunar New Year. Therefore, near Tet, in addition to customers from Vinh city, there are many traders and businesses in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hue... coming to Phu Quy to buy oranges.

According to Mr. Hoang Minh - Director of Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company, the company currently has 730 hectares of oranges, allocated to 680 contracted households, each household has an average of 1.07 hectares of oranges. (In which the large households receive from 3 - 5 hectares, the small households receive 0.5 - 1.0 hectares). Of that, there are currently 320 hectares of oranges for business, the remaining will be harvested next year and a few years later. The 2013 orange crop was also a big one, but the price was not as good as in 2014; the total revenue of the 2013 orange crop only reached 100 billion VND; in the 2014 orange crop, customers came to offer prices and sign contracts to sell grade 1 oranges at 55,000 VND/kg, grade 2 oranges at 45,000 VND/kg and grade 3 oranges at 35,000 VND/kg. It is estimated that the entire Company will harvest about 4,800 tons of oranges, with revenue from 145 - 150 billion VND.

V2 orange variety has high yield in Quy Hop. Photo: Phan Van Toan

Coming to the orange garden of Mr. Hoang Minh's family - the company's director, Mr. Minh said: "This orange garden is 1 hectare wide, with 500 trees. After 3 years of planting, it has yielded 1.5 million VND/tree, and this crop will yield at least 2 million VND/tree". "So your 1 hectare of oranges generates 1 billion VND in revenue, right?" I asked. Mr. Minh replied: "It is common for 1 hectare of oranges to generate 1 billion VND in revenue. Right at our company today, there are over 40 farming households that have established a club of orange growers with revenues of 1 billion VND or more. They are the billionaires of the red basalt land of Phu Quy today".

Mr. Le Van Minh's orange garden in Minh Ho hamlet is 3.5 hectares wide, with each tree bearing large fruits. The owner of the orange garden said that this orange crop is expected to yield 4 billion VND. Next to it, Mr. Pham Van Phung's family's orange garden is 3 hectares wide, also expected to earn about 3 billion VND. Mr. Kieu Quang Vinh's family in team 3 has 0.75 hectares of oranges. In the previous crop, the family harvested 40 tons of fruit from this orange garden, selling at an average price of 30,000 VND/kg of fruit, with a revenue of 1.2 billion VND. This orange crop was affected by severe drought and lack of irrigation, so the yield was somewhat lower. But now that oranges are more expensive, they will certainly earn at least 1 billion VND. To have an orange garden with many large fruits and few pests and diseases... according to Mr. Vinh, first of all, good seedlings are needed.

The seedlings here are completely selected by the company's nursery, with grafted buds taken from large, healthy, pest-free Xa Doai orange, Van Du orange and V2 orange trees... grafted onto the rootstock of the Trach tree and sour grapefruit tree. Because these two types of trees have strong roots, reaching deep into the soil layer to ensure the tree grows well and withstands severe drought. On the other hand, it is necessary to invest in intensive farming, with an average fertilization level per hectare of orange trees being 50 tons of various organic fertilizers + 1 ton of urea + 0.5 tons of phosphate + 0.5 tons of potassium and 250 kg of lime powder. At the same time, it is necessary to regularly check for pests, if any, they must be caught by hand or sprayed with pesticides immediately, and if the weather is hot and dry for a long time, weed, mulch and cover the base of the tree, and water the tree.

In recent years, orange trees have become the most effective economic spearhead in this area. Growing oranges not only brings high economic efficiency to producers but also protects the land and a healthy living environment for people. Most of the households contracted to grow oranges at the company earn billions of dong every year, while the investment cost for orange production is only a maximum of 13-15% of the revenue. Therefore, the living standards of all households here are increasingly improved. Currently, more than 30% of households here have built high-rise buildings and purchased expensive cars. Oranges here are truly a tree that enriches families.

Doan Tri Tue