People passionate about the "Vinh orange" brand

(Baonghean) - On the fertile, sunny and windy red basalt land of Phu Quy, which has long been known for growing sugarcane, rubber, coffee... But now there is a person who has quietly created the brand "Vinh orange". He is Hoang Minh, Director of Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited.

I “met” him on a day of peak sunshine, with a scorching Lao wind. At that time, he was down to each orange plot to direct workers to pump water and check for pests. He seemed to be absorbed in joy when he saw each orange plot “surpassing the deadline” with lots of fruit, soon there would be another bumper orange season...

Talking, Director Hoang Minh recalled: In 1979, while studying at the Xuan Mai Vocational Management College of the Ministry of Agriculture, he enlisted in the army to join the Northern battlefield. In 1983, he was discharged from the army, returned to school and then worked at the State Farm 3/2. In 1985, after being divided into 2 farms, Mr. Minh returned to work at Xuan Thanh Farm, then from the planning department to become Production Team Leader, Union Chairman, Deputy Director of the Farm and in 2000 he continued to be appointed as Director of the Farm. At that time, the farm faced many difficulties, owed nearly 600 million VND in social insurance and owed over 2 billion VND to banks.

Mr. Hoang Minh. Photo: VT

To "steer" the unit through difficulties and develop day by day, Mr. Hoang Minh and the farm's leadership discussed and found the most optimal solution: First, it is necessary to resolve policies for workers, so that workers have confidence, peace of mind in production, and attachment to the farm. He had to mobilize a loan of 300,000 VND/officer and employee in the company to pay off the social insurance debt. Therefore, the rights of workers are guaranteed, especially the settlement of pension, sickness, and maternity regimes for workers that have been pending for a long time... Next, boldly shift the crop structure, improve land use efficiency, and save money to repay bank loans. In the period of 2005, Mr. Hoang Minh accelerated the sugarcane growing area, because the output for sugarcane was quite stable. Thanks to investment in intensive sugarcane cultivation, sugarcane productivity is high, averaging 80 - 100 tons of sugarcane/ha, sugarcane output reaches 60,000 - 62,000 tons of sugarcane/year, with new sugarcane varieties such as Roc 10, Que Duong, MI...

Not stopping there, Mr. Hoang Minh came up with the idea of ​​restoring orange trees and planting oranges to increase economic value per unit area. At this time, some localities still maintained orange planting such as Xa Doai, Nghi Dien (Nghi Loc); Song Con, An Ngai (Tan Ky); Co Do, Dong Hieu, 1/5, Tay Hieu (Nghia Dan); especially Xuan Thanh, 3/2 (Quy Hop). After more than 3 years of actively preparing the necessary conditions to deploy the organization and management of the use of the geographical indication "Vinh orange" for the orange fruit products of Nghe An province, under the leadership of the Provincial People's Committee and provincial departments, branches and sectors, especially the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Department of Intellectual Property, Institute of Agrochemistry and Pedology... on November 17, 2010, at Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee solemnly held a ceremony to receive the certificate of protection of the geographical indication "Vinh" for the orange fruit products of Nghe An province.

According to Mr. Hoang Minh, establishing rights to geographical indications is very important, but only by managing, exploiting and developing geographical indications can the meaning and value of protecting geographical indications be promoted in practice. The problem is how consumers who love Vinh oranges can buy genuine Vinh oranges, with the quality that is truly Vinh orange quality. To achieve that, it requires the efforts of all levels, sectors, and especially the efforts of each member of the Vinh Orange Production and Trading Association.

After receiving the certificate of protection for the geographical indication "Vinh" for orange products, Mr. Hoang Minh established the Vinh Orange Association, promoted investment, actively coordinated with the Institute of Agricultural Genetics, Xuan Mai Fruit Tree Center to apply many orange varieties into production such as V2 oranges, late-ripening Xa Doai oranges, Mat oranges, PQ tangerines... In 2010, there were only over 230 hectares of oranges, now the company has over 700 hectares. What is special is that when the "Vinh orange" brand had not been built, the income per hectare was only 20 - 25 million VND, since the oranges had a brand, it has reached 250 - 300 million VND/ha. In 2014 alone, the company had 18 households with an income of over 1 billion VND/year. The company has also built 2 asphalt roads, phase I has completed 5 km, phase II has completed 5 km, 80% of the volume has been completed, contributing to the convenience of product purchasing. The company's revenue has increased, reaching 14.5 billion VND in 2000, and 120 billion VND in 2014.

Taking care of orange garden in Quy Hop. Photo: D.C.

Mr. Hoang Minh shared: Although the orange growing area has a brand, it still needs to maintain stability in planning, quality, and the spread of varieties and stable output to create a sustainable closed production value chain. The attention and support of provincial leaders, departments, branches, and Quy Hop district is still very necessary, in order to call for projects to link investment in developing the orange growing area, build a processing and preservation system, research and apply advanced science and technology to reduce the use of pesticides, and produce highly competitive products in the domestic market and export to countries around the world.

With his achievements, from 2000 to present, Mr. Hoang Minh, Director of Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited, has been awarded many noble prizes by the Party and the State. In 2011, he was awarded the Third Class Labor Medal by the President. In 2015, he was honored by the Emulation Cluster of Agricultural Enterprises as a delegate to attend the Provincial Patriotic Emulation Congress for the period 2010 - 2015.

Van Truong