Thanh Chuong: Good harvest of Tet oranges

(Baonghean)This year, orange growers in Thanh Chuong are excited because oranges have good prices, especially the late-ripening oranges to serve the market during the Lunar New Year of Quy Ty. Thanh Chuong oranges are concentrated in the Youth Volunteers - Construction Team 2, the Youth Volunteers - Construction Team 5 and some other communes in the district....

In the drizzle and the freezing cold of the mountainous weather, we visited the orange gardens of the families of the production team members of the Youth Volunteer Team 2 - Construction and Development in Thanh Duc commune (Thanh Chuong). The family of Mr. Ho Viet Cuong - a member of Team 3/2 (Youth Volunteer Team 2) has over 400 orange trees, including Van Du oranges, Song Con oranges and Valencia oranges. Currently, the garden also has about 500 kg of late-ripening oranges to serve the Lunar New Year market.

Leading us into the garden of ripe oranges, full of fruit waiting to be harvested, Mr. Cuong excitedly said: “Compared to last year, the price of oranges this year is higher. Last year, my family harvested 170 million VND from oranges, this year from the beginning of the season until now, it has been about 250 million VND, and Tet oranges alone have been deposited at a price of 40,000 VND/kg…”. Production team 3/2 has 50 households, of which 20 team members grow oranges on an area of ​​about 30 hectares. In the initial planting period, the team members received 50% support for seeds and technical training from the team. For many years, orange trees have brought a significant source of income to the team members’ families, especially during Tet.

Ms. Phan Thi Hoan's family has more than 300 orange and lemon trees, which bring in an annual income of more than 100 million VND. This year, in addition to the sales from the beginning of the season, her family still has 3 tons of late-ripening oranges and lemons to serve Tet. According to Ms. Hoan, if any customer does not order 1 month in advance, they will not be able to buy oranges. Any family with a beautiful orange garden with high productivity is considered to have won big. In particular, the pomelo can be bought for 50,000 VND/kg. However, growers are also worried when on cold days, many oranges fall and rot due to dense frost and unstable temperatures...

Many team members said that in terms of productivity, Van Du and Song Con oranges are better, but in terms of quality, Valencia oranges, although smaller and more succulent, have a sweeter taste. Mr. Phan Van Ngon - Team leader of the Youth Volunteer Team 2, said: Currently, the team has about 40 hectares of lemon oranges, tangerines and Valencia oranges concentrated in production teams 3/2 and 15/7. Orange growers do not have to worry about output because oranges are bought in the garden at an average price of 25-30 thousand VND/kg, while Tet oranges are sold at 40-50 thousand VND/kg. However, the quantity of oranges for Tet is not much left. Currently, each household has 5-7 quintals, mainly Valencia oranges and tangerines of the Huong Son variety (Ha Tinh). This year, the value of orange trees accounts for about 30% of the unit's income.





Late-ripening orange garden serving Tet of members of Youth Volunteer Team 2 - Construction and Development. Photo: KL - VH

For a long time, oranges of the Youth Volunteers - Construction and Development Teams in Thanh Chuong district have become a favorite brand of customers. The leader of the Youth Volunteers Team 5 stationed in Thanh Ha and Thanh Thuy communes, Hoang Van Dong, said: The soil in Khe Duom is very suitable for growing oranges, especially the Bu orange variety. Currently, the team focuses on growing oranges in Team 2 with 50 participating households, an area of ​​about 30 hectares, on average each year bringing to the market about 30 tons of both Bu oranges and lemon oranges during Tet. Among them, many households have an income of 50 - 60 million VND from Tet oranges each year such as the households of Tran Anh Tuan, Tran Van Nho, etc.

For many households in Thanh Nho commune (Thanh Chuong), this year, orange trees have brought in high income. Typically, Mr. Nguyen Van Ky's household, also in hamlet 10, has 2 hectares of orange trees with an average yield of 2 - 2.5 tons, earning 70 million VND/ha. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Cao Chi Luong - Tran Thi Lai, also in hamlet 10, has 400 orange and lemon trees, earning over 100 million VND this year. "The normal price of oranges sold at the source ranges from 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg, and traders have placed a deposit for Tet oranges at 50,000 VND/kg, but there are none to sell. The whole garden is lucky to have only a few hundred kilograms left," said Ms. Lai. Thanh Nho is also the unit chosen by the District Youth Union to implement a model of planting 1,600 disease-free orange trees. This is a large, thin-skinned, high-value orange variety, selected and bred by the Gia Lam Fruit and Vegetable Experimental Research Center - Central Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, and is popular with many customers.

Head of the Department of Agriculture of Thanh Chuong district, Mr. Le Dinh Thanh said: “Currently, the area of ​​orange cultivation in the district is about 90 hectares, concentrated in Thanh Nho, Thanh Duc, Thanh Thuy... with dozens of orange growing models for Tet, each model earns hundreds of millions of VND/year. Besides maintaining and developing the traditional orange variety, the district has many reasonable policies to help localities replicate and develop orange growing models with high productivity and good quality. This year's Tet orange crop, orange growers in Thanh Chuong district are more excited and happier because oranges sell for a good price, bringing high economic efficiency."

Gia Huy