Young couple pioneers in growing oranges in the border area of Que land
(Baonghean.vn) - These days, at the foot of Pu Cang mountain, Phong Quang village, Que Son commune (Que Phong), more than 1 hectare of oranges and tangerines of Mr. Cao Tien Hoi and his wife are ripening. This is the result of many years of reclaiming barren hill land to build the first citrus farm here.
Since 2000, Mr. Hoi and his wife have reclaimed more than 1 hectare of hilly land at the foot of Pu Cang to experiment with many types of crops such as sugarcane, cassava, and corn, but the results were not high.
After many years of struggling to find a direction, in 2010, they boldly planted 20 Xa Doai orange trees on a trial basis. In the early days, few people believed that they would succeed, because no one in the Que Son area dared to grow this difficult tree.
Mr. Hoi has worked hard to learn from the reality, learn from experience, invite some orange garden owners in other districts to give advice on how to choose seedlings, how to care for them... and drill wells to find underground water.
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| More than 1 hectare of oranges and tangerines on the Pu Cang hillside (Que Son commune, Que Phong) is ripe. Photo: Hoang Thanh |
The journey to find the water source was considered the most arduous because even though they drilled through dozens of layers of soil and rock, the water was still contaminated with alum. Only at a depth of 45m did the water source become stable. To be assured, they immediately brought samples downstream to ask the provincial Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality to test them. Only when they received positive results did the couple breathe a sigh of relief.
Then the land did not disappoint, after a long period of anxiety, the first crop of fruit grew succulent. In 2014, Mr. Hoi and his wife decided to expand the farm to 400 Xa Doai orange trees and PQ tangerines with a total investment of up to 200 million VND.
Mr. Hoi shared that the difficulty of tangerine trees is that they are very susceptible to disease, especially yellow leaf disease which is very difficult to treat so it requires meticulous care. Accordingly, he has to coordinate with a technician with a lot of experience in growing to care for and prevent disease.
The special thing is that even though the orchard is so large, the family does not need to use pesticides because every time there are pests, the remedies from the technicians are mixed from natural ingredients such as lime, garlic, and chili and are absolutely effective.
Leading us through the hills of oranges and tangerines laden with fruit, Ms. Huyen shared that despite the unfavorable weather, her family's 1 hectare of oranges and tangerines still achieved high quality and yield. The first crop yielded nearly 5 tons of fruit, and this crop is estimated to yield about 13 to 14 tons of fruit. Ms. Huyen said that in a few weeks, her family will send samples to VietGAP company for testing to find a stable long-term output.