Sweet tangerine PQ1 on barren land

As a household with a large hilly area in Hamlet 3, Cat Van Commune (Thanh Chuong), Mr. Tran Cong Hai's family was previously very confused in organizing production. With the advice of an agricultural engineer, he bought 100 PQ1 tangerine trees to plant.

With technical guidance, Mr. Hai dug holes to plant tangerines with a planting distance of 3m x 4m. According to Mr. Hai, although the soil is barren, this tangerine variety grows quickly, has mild red spider and leaf miner diseases, low incidence of gummosis and yellow leaves, and almost no fruit flies that suck on oranges...

Seeing the economic efficiency, he planted more than 500 trees; currently the first 100 trees have yielded the fourth harvest and are very fruitful.

PQ1 tangerine trees laden with fruit in Cat Van commune (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Dinh Ha

These days, Mr. Hai's tangerine garden always has traders and buyers. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang - a flower seller said that PQ 1 tangerines are easy to sell because the price is reasonable, only from 20,000 - 25,000 VND/kg, each day she sells about 400 - 500 kg.

From the first tangerine trees, currently in hamlet 3 and many other hamlets in Cat Van commune, Thanh Chuong district, there are 15 households following suit with an area of ​​about 7 hectares.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao, who lives next to Mr. Hai's house and has planted more than 100 trees, said: "When I looked at the rocky hill, I thought I wouldn't be able to grow anything. But learning from Mr. Hai to grow PQ1 tangerines, I have had a significant source of income. Next season, I will plant the entire area."

Traders come to buy tangerines at Mr. Tran Cong Hai's garden in Hamlet 3, Cat Van Commune. Photo: Dinh Ha

According to the people, this tangerine variety has the potential to increase productivity over time, such as in the area planted since 2012, if the first harvest only reached 15 tons/ha, by the fourth harvest this year the productivity is expected to increase to 33.1 tons/ha.

In fact, tangerine trees are not strange to Thanh Chuong people. Previously, many localities in mountainous communes and Youth Volunteer Force teams planted tangerines with varieties such as Javen and Cleopac tangerines... but because they bought floating varieties without consulting units and were not suitable for the soil, they quickly degenerated.

Regarding the results of growing PQ1 tangerines by people in Cat Van commune, Mr. Nguyen Ba Quy - Chairman of the Gardening Association of Thanh Chuong district said: This is a delicious, high-quality tangerine variety, people are tending to expand the area, especially on poor lands similar to those in Cat Van.