Quy Hop oranges fall young, people sell for 3,000 VND/kg

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cong's orange garden at 12, Xuan Thanh Farm suffered from many rotten and fallen fruits. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Present at Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dong's orange garden in team 12, Xuan Thanh Farm, Quy Hop witnessed Mr. Dong's entire 12-sao orange garden still green, but under each orange tree, many fruits had fallen.

Mr. Dong said that after the flood caused by storm No. 4, the oranges turned yellow, had many black spots, and rotted and fell off more and more, to the point that he was too weak to pick them up and throw them away. Afraid that all the fruit would fall off, his family decided to sell them to traders for 3,000 VND/kg, even though the oranges were still green.

Rotten and fallen oranges were dumped in piles on the street by people. Photo: Quang An

"In previous years, oranges were picked in the 11th lunar month to sell until Tet, but this year due to pests and diseases, many oranges have fallen, so I have to sell them quickly, hoping to recoup the money to invest in care," said Mr. Dong.

Mr. Vo Van Hiep and his wife in Minh Kinh hamlet, Minh Hop commune (Quy Hop) have 1 hectare of Van Du oranges. While harvesting young oranges, Mr. Hiep sadly said that because the oranges were sick, along with heavy rain, the oranges fell off in large numbers. Fearing that there would be no more fruit to harvest while waiting for the oranges to ripen, the family accepted to harvest them young to sell at 4,000 VND/kg to traders. That price was not enough to cover the cost of caring for the oranges.

Vo Van Hiep and his wife agreed to harvest young oranges and sell them for 4,000 VND/kg, for fear that they would all fall off. Photo: Quang An

Along the roads leading to the orange growing areas of Quy Hop district, many piles of rotten oranges with pests and diseases were found... Locals said these were fallen oranges picked up from the garden and dumped.

Fallen oranges. Photo: Quang An

Observations in orange gardens show that orange trees are infected with the disease in large numbers, some trees have yellow fruit, the skin has many black spots, cracks, and rot...

The orange trees, although young, are diseased and turn yellow. Photo: Xuan Hoang

According to Mr. Hoang Minh - Director of Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited: There has never been a year where oranges have fallen as much as this year, the rate of young oranges falling is over 30%, even in some gardens up to 70%.

The main reason why young oranges fall is due to heavy rain causing flooding in some growing areas; partly due to disease on orange trees.

Accordingly, this year's orange crop will have fewer Vinh oranges with traceability labels than last year, due to poor orange quality./.

Xuan Hoang - Quang An