Tangerine growers in Nghe An are worried because of... a good harvest.

High productivity

In recent years, when Vinh oranges on Phu Quy land gradually degraded, reducing productivity and area, the treePQ tangerinebecome the largest citrus tree area in the districts of Quy Hop and Nghia Dan. If you visit the famous Quy Hop orange areas at this time, it is not difficult to see that the orange trees have been replaced by green sugarcane, corn and PQ tangerine fields.

Mr. Vo Van Trung's family in Minh Hop commune, Quy Hop district has 1 hectare of PQ tangerines with over 400 trees. Thanks to good investment in care, this year's tangerines are growing well, with an expected yield of about 25 tons. Mr. Trung said: My tangerine garden has been bearing fruit for 3 years, of which this year's yield is the highest. After Tet, the tangerines began to yield their first harvest, and the family has also cut and sold about 500 kg last week at a price of 7,000 - 8,000 VND/kg, mainly retailing to the market.

PQ tangerines in Nghe An have entered the main harvest season. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Currently, Quy Hop and Nghia Dan are two key areas for growing PQ tangerines in Nghe An province, with an area of ​​nearly 1,000 hectares, of which Quy Hop district has about 500 hectares, concentrated in Minh Hop and Van Loi communes... Nghia Dan district has over 400 hectares, mainly concentrated in Nghia Hong, Nghia Mai, Nghia Yen, Nghia Tho communes... The average yield is about 20 tons/ha; some households with good care can yield up to 30 - 35 tons/ha.

Over the years, PQ tangerines have proven their resistance to the harsh weather in Nghe An. This is an easy-to-grow, easy-to-care-for tree, with few pests and diseases, and if they do occur, they are easy to eradicate; it has a high and fairly stable yield over many years. Compared to oranges, this is a tree that does not require much care, fertilization, spraying, and requires less investment capital.

According to calculations, 1 hectare of PQ tangerine requires an investment of about 50 million VND (including labor costs), to harvest about 25 - 30 tons, with an average price of 5,000 - 7,000 VND/kg, the profit is over 150 million VND. After deducting all costs, the profit is also much higher than other crops. Of course, to achieve that yield, it is necessary to take care of the right techniques and the output must be stable.

This year, PQ tangerines yielded about 20 tons/ha, however, the number of traders coming to buy them was not much. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Slow consumption market

Although it is a high-yield crop with few pests and diseases, the actual output of PQ tangerines is very difficult to predict. In 2021, thousands of tons of PQ tangerines of people in Quy Hop and Nghia Dan districts could not be consumed, even though the price was only 2,000 - 3,000 VND/kg, forcing them to fall all over the garden and calling for rescue from organizations and unions. Many households have cut down their tangerine gardens because they think they are no longer effective. By 2022, when market demand increased, tangerine prices skyrocketed to 10,000 - 12,000 VND/kg, households with large areas could earn hundreds of millions of VND, while households that had cut down their tangerines were left empty-handed.

Minh Hop commune is currently the locality with the largest area of ​​PQ tangerines in Quy Hop district. According to Ms. Truong Thi Van - agricultural officer of Minh Hop commune, the whole commune currently has about 230 hectares of PQ tangerines, of which 200 hectares have been harvested and 30 hectares are newly planted. This year, tangerines grow quite well, with few pests and diseases, and an average yield of over 20 tons/ha. However, the consumption of this agricultural product is slow compared to 2022.

Last year, during the tangerine harvest season, traders flocked to the locality to buy, the amount of tangerines consumed by the whole commune was dozens of tons per day. However, this year, the number of traders coming back is very small, people mainly bring them to retail in the market or contact regular customers from previous years.

That is also the general situation of PQ tangerine gardens in Nghia Dan district. Mr. Hoang Van Phuc - Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Yen commune, one of the localities with the largest area of ​​PQ tangerines in the district, said: The whole commune currently has nearly 100 hectares of PQ tangerines, of which about 40 - 50 hectares are being harvested. In 2022, the Covid-19 epidemic is complicated, so tangerines are chosen by many people because they have a lot of vitamin C, increase resistance, and the price has also increased 2 - 3 times compared to previous years. However, after the Lunar New Year this year, the number of traders coming to buy has decreased significantly. In the meeting in early February, supporting people to consume tangerines was also one of the issues discussed by the locality to find a solution.

Units join hands to rescue PQ tangerines in 2021. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Currently, tangerine growers are worried. In addition to contacting traders or selling at retail, people are also promoting their products on social networking sites to reach customers. Local authorities are also actively searching for and connecting with units to be able to consume large quantities of tangerines for people.

Authorities also recommend that farmers should not massively expand their tangerine growing areas just because of good harvests and prices. Instead, they should invest in improving crop quality and applying science and technology to bring to the market quality and safe products that will be welcomed by consumers./.