Nghe An farmers are restless because ripe tangerines are falling all over the garden.

Mr. Cao Van Thuong's family in Hamlet 4A, Nghia Mai Commune (Nghia Dan) grows more than 700 PQ tangerine trees on an area of ​​1.5 hectares. Before Tet, Mr. Thuong sold 2 tons at 5,000 VND/kg; since Tet, his family has not sold any more tons.

Mr. Thuong said: "The tree has now flowered and has small fruits. If we don't harvest them, it will affect the next crop. The tangerines are ripe so many have fallen under the tree. I cleaned them up once before Tet. Yesterday, I cleaned them up, but when I woke up this morning, I saw them all over the garden. It was very frustrating."

Ripe tangerines fall, people in hamlet 4A, Nghia Mai commune (Nghia Dan) clean up and pile them up. Photo: Hoang Hang

Mr. Cao Van Thuong's tangerine garden has been planted for 6 years, however, this is the first year that no one buys the tangerines. With 1.5 hectares, this year he invested about 30 million VND in fertilizer and care, expecting to produce 30 tons of fruit. "Currently, the amount of ripe fruit that has fallen has reached nearly 3 tons. Every day, the family has to spend time cleaning the garden, otherwise it will cause pollution and pests that harm the fruit on the tree. If there are no buyers in the next 10 days, the amount of fruit that has fallen will increase even more," Mr. Thuong added.

Not only Mr. Thuong's family, but also some households growing PQ tangerines in Nghia Mai commune are also restless because there are no buyers. At this time, only over 50% of the area has been sold, the rest is ripe but has not been harvested.

Currently, Nghia Mai commune still has many areas of PQ tangerines that have not been harvested. Photo: Dinh Thuy

Currently, the price of beautiful tangerines in the garden is bought by traders at 5,000 VND/kg, but in small quantities; people have to salvage by bringing them to the retail market to sell at a higher price, but it is also difficult to sell, only 5 - 10 kg/day.

According to Ms. Truong Thi Kieu in hamlet 4A, Nghia Mai commune, the weather after Tet is sunny so the tangerines ripen quickly, she just hopes that traders will come to buy them and salvage whatever money they can.

The price of PQ tangerines at the garden is only 5,000 VND/kg but there are still no traders coming to buy. Photo: Hoang Hang

Mr. Hoang Van Nhuong - Chairman of Nghia Mai Commune People's Committee said that the commune has more than 50 hectares of citrus trees, this year the price of tangerines is cheap, making it difficult to find outlets. Consumption is still small, so after Tet there are still some households that have not been able to sell. Faced with this situation, the commune recommends that people invest in taking care of old areas and not expand new areas.