Be careful when buying PQ1 tangerine varieties

(Baonghean) - On October 17, 2013, the Department of Crop Production issued Decision 480/QD-TT-CCN officially recognizing the PQ1 tangerine variety for production in the provinces of the North Central region. However, the PQ1 tangerine variety is being copyrighted. Seeing the profits from this tangerine variety, many people in Thai Hoa Town have self-crossbred and massively sold the variety, causing considerable damage to farmers.

PQ1 tangerine variety was collected and selected by Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center since 1992, originating in Cai Lay district, Tien Giang province; recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development under Decision No. 3326/QD-BBN-TT dated October 29, 2007 and allowed for trial production in the North Central region. Trial production sites include Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center, Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited (Quy Hop), in Dong Phuc commune (Huong Khe district - Ha Tinh), An Dong ward (Quang Tri town - Quang Tri province). Ms. Vo Thi Tuyet - Director of Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center said: Initially, the testing area was 0.5 ha: 0.3 ha in the Center's collective garden, 0.2 ha in Thanh Nho - Thanh Chuong from 1992 to 2001. Then, the propagation process and intensive cultivation process of PQ1 variety continued with rootstocks such as Trap rootstock in Thai Binh, sour grapefruit rootstock, bitter orange rootstock with an area of ​​6 ha deployed in 3 provinces, 4 locations from 2006 to 2012. The trial production locations include: Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center, Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited - One Member Limited Liability Company, in Dong Phuc commune, An Dong ward.

PQ1 tangerine variety is highly effective at Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited (Quy Hop).

The research and breeding process in the past time has shown that the PQ1 tangerine variety is very suitable for the soil and climate conditions of the Phu Quy basalt red soil area. Currently, the PQ1 tangerine variety is grown on a large area at Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited. The total area is nearly 100 hectares, with an average yield of 25 tons/ha. Many households have high incomes from PQ1 tangerines, such as: Le Viet Minh's household grows 2 hectares of PQ1 tangerines with a yield of 25 tons/ha, selling for 20,000 VND/kg, with a total revenue of 1 billion VND; Mr. Tiep My in Team 3, grows 1 hectare of tangerines with a revenue of over 600 million VND.

However, currently, many households have grafted "fake" PQ1 tangerine varieties for profit and sold them on the market. In the Experimental Block, Quang Tien Ward, Thai Hoa Town, there are many private nurseries of households, and on both sides of the road, many people offer to buy seedlings. Posing as a buyer of seedlings, we were able to enter the nursery of Mrs. Tran Thi M. This nursery has all kinds of seedlings, from grapefruit, orange, tangerine to hybrid acacia, lat, cajuput... When I asked to buy PQ1 tangerine seedlings, Mrs. M said: "If you buy in large quantities, you will get a "discount" price from 30,000 VND/tree down to 25,000 VND/tree. Currently, there are about 3,000 seedlings left in my garden."

I asked: I heard that the PQ1 tangerine variety at the Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center produces better, Ms. M explained: "Buying here is cheaper but the quality is the same as that of the Center because the hybridization technology is the same". During this time, we saw that nurseries selling seedlings in Thai Hoa Town, especially tangerine varieties, were selling very well, sometimes "out of stock" because the weather was favorable in spring, so many people bought them to plant. Mr. Le Dinh Nguyen - a resident of Nghia Xuan Commune (Quy Hop) was buying tangerine varieties at a facility in the Experimental block, saying: "I am planning to buy and try planting about 200 tangerine trees, if it is effective, I will plant 2 - 3 hectares". When I asked about the origin of the seedlings, he seemed confused: "If they sell, we buy, but how can we know the quality of the seedlings". Through research, it is known that many people buy tangerine seeds but they mistakenly think that these facilities are the official nursery of PQ1 tangerine seeds. They do not know that they are buying tangerine seeds in the floating market, which has many potential risks.

Ms. Vo Thi Tuyet - Director of Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center added: "Our center is currently very difficult to maintain copyright because people everywhere are now massively grafting and creating tangerine varieties to sell all over the market. It is difficult for people to hybridize rice varieties, but grafting and creating tangerine varieties is not so difficult, so it is very difficult to prevent. Currently, the center only produces 13,000 trees each year, while the number of people producing and selling is much higher." According to Ms. Tuyet, due to the effectiveness of growing tangerines, many people are currently racing to grow tangerines, leading to a shortage of tangerine varieties, so many orchards are chasing profits, grafting poor quality trees. Specifically, the grafted buds are not selected properly, the rootstock is not suitable for tangerine trees, such as using sour grapefruit rootstock to graft tangerines. When planting, it will affect the tree's slow growth, if there are fruits, the quality is not guaranteed. The most important thing is that to grow 1 hectare of tangerine, people have to invest from 70 to 80 million VND, and it takes 3 to 4 years to harvest. If many localities plan to grow tangerine on a large scale, grow specialized crops for sale, but buy seeds of unknown origin, the consequences will be unpredictable, the trees will have to be destroyed to replant, causing serious economic losses.

The problem now is that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province and related sectors need to have solutions to prevent the illegal grafting and cross-breeding of fake PQ1 tangerine varieties that damage the interests of the people.

Article and photos:Vuong Tran