Farmers in Nghia Dan are in a dilemma because of red tangerines.

We visited the orchard of over 300 red tangerine trees belonging to Mr. Hoang Huu Hoa's family in Hamlet 4B, Nghia Mai Commune. Looking at the ripe, beautiful tangerines, the owner said, "There are many fruits, but the green ones are sour, and the ripe ones are spongy, so they can't be sold. Not to mention, with the current rainy weather, if we don't harvest them in time, the fruit will rot and fall off."

Although there are many ripe tangerines, Mr. Hoa doesn't want to harvest and sell them yet because the price is low. Photo: Minh Thai

Similarly, the Cao Xuan Hiep household in Hamlet 4A was also restless as their tangerine orchard was ready for harvest to repay their investment debts, but only a few hundred kilograms could be harvested from the entire orchard, while the rest were sour and spongy.

According to Mr. Hiep, with that quantity and current prices, grade 1 tangerines at the orchard only fetch 10-12 thousand VND/kg, grade 2 tangerines 5-6 thousand VND/kg, compared to nearly 20 thousand VND/kg last year, but they are still difficult to sell because traders reject them, so he doesn't have enough money for fertilizer and pesticides...

Reportedly, in recent times, implementing the policy of crop conversion, Nghia Mai commune has converted more than 50 hectares of citrus trees, with over 20 hectares of mandarin oranges, including 3 hectares of red mandarins. Mr. Cao Van Bang, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of the commune, said: In the commune, there are over 10 households growing red mandarin oranges. These households planted them spontaneously, so the selection of varieties was not given enough attention, leading to poor fruit quality and difficulty in selling.

This year's red tangerines have an attractive appearance but are sour and spongy. Photo: Minh Thai