Xa Doai orange growers lose billions

(Baonghean.vn) - Currently, Xa Doai oranges are starting to taste sweet; orange growers are happy that harvest day is approaching. However, too many oranges have fallen due to prolonged heavy rain.

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Prolonged heavy rains caused many Xa Doai oranges to fall off. Photo: Nhat Tuan

For the past 3 weeks, since storm No. 10, Mr. Phan Cong Huong in hamlet 8, Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc district has been worried about the situation of Xa Doai oranges in the ripening stage, falling and rotting every day. Every few days, he has to go to the garden to collect a large bucket of rotten oranges.

“My orange garden has about 6,000 oranges. Up to this point, almost a third of the oranges have fallen. In total, my family has lost over 100 million VND. This number has not stopped because the oranges in the garden continue to fall,” Mr. Huong said sadly.

Over the past three weeks, Mr. Phan Cong Huong's orange garden in Hamlet 8, Nghi Dien Commune (Nghi Loc) has lost about 2,000 oranges. Photo: Nhat Tuan

As someone who has the technique to grow Xa Doai oranges, Mr. Huong knows that this type of tree cannot withstand waterlogging. Long periods of heavy rain and frequent flooding of the soil cause the roots of the orange tree to rot. The orange tree cannot absorb nutrients, the fruit is not nourished and falls off. The number of fallen fruits is directly proportional to the level and duration of waterlogging of the soil.

According to Mr. Vo Van Hoa in Hamlet 1, Nghi Dien Commune - who has many years of experience growing Xa Doai oranges, in recent years, households have replaced tree fences with surrounding walls, making drainage in the garden even worse. Not only did the oranges in his garden lose fruit, but the trees also died. His family had 30 orange trees, and in the past few years, 8 trees were damaged; a few trees were not completely dead, but the fruit was sparse.

Mr. Vo Van Hoa's family in Hamlet 1, Nghi Dien Commune had many orange trees die due to waterlogged soil. Photo: Nhat Tuan

To reduce damage caused by oranges falling, after each heavy rain, growers must quickly dredge and clear the ditch system and use pumps to drain water from the garden. If delayed, the entire root system of the orange tree will rot; a virus that causes disease caused by root rot will spread and destroy the taproot, causing the orange tree to wilt and die.

Nghi Dien Commune has hundreds of households growing Xa Doai oranges with a total area of ​​10 hectares, of which 7 hectares have produced fruit. Only a few households grow oranges on original gardens, on high, well-drained land. Most of the oranges grown in home gardens suffer from severe flooding due to poor drainage.

Orange growers said that this year, heavy and prolonged rains have caused an unprecedented amount of oranges to fall. The entire commune estimates that there are 350,000 fruits, of which 1/3 are damaged. If the average price of each orange is 50,000 VND, the estimated loss for orange growers during harvest is in the billions of VND.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Son - Chairman of Nghi Dien Commune People's Committee said: "Xa Doai oranges have high economic value but often have to deal with pests and diseases, the main source of which is due to the situation of flooded land. The locality will organize the construction of a traffic system connected to drainage canals in residential areas so that orange trees can grow well, giving higher economic value."

Nhat Tuan