Orange capital Phu Quy is at risk of fading away.

The orange gardens are devastated in Minh Hop commune, Quy Hop district. Photo: Van Truong

Rich because of oranges, bankrupt also because of oranges

Visit the communes of Minh Hop, Van Loi, Ha Son, Nghia Xuan of Quy Hop district -Orange capital Phu QuyThis is a strange time. An area that used to be famous for its orange trees is now deserted. Looking at some of the remaining orange trees, we saw weeds growing wildly, and many orange trees were dry and bare.

Through research, it is known that in the years 2010-2014, Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited had over 1,000 hectares of oranges - the place considered the capital of Vinh oranges. The certificate of geographical indication of Vinh oranges was awarded at the Company, the Vinh Orange Production and Trading Association was also established here. Oranges in this area are invested in a systematic way, famous for their quality. During the orange harvest season, people and vehicles from all over come to get the goods. At that time, the Company also established many product introduction points in many locations across the country.

Mr. Nguyen Van Len in Minh Tho hamlet, Minh Hop commune is taking care of the remaining orange garden. Photo: Van Truong.

At that time, the price of oranges was high, 1 hectare of oranges yielded a profit of 600-700 million VND/year, which was normal. Many farmers became billionaires after only 2-3 years of harvesting oranges. Because of the profits from orange trees, many people in the Phu Quy area cut down a series of other crops, then borrowed money to plant oranges, hoping to change their fortunes with orange trees. However, in recent years, orange trees have declined in both price and quality, and many households have become poor because of... oranges.

Mr. Tran Duc Quyen in Nghia Xuan commune, Quy Hop district, an orange grower, shared: Seeing that the orange area in Phu Quy was developing well and was economically effective, in 2015 my family borrowed money and invested over 7 billion VND to plant 12 hectares of oranges in hamlet 8, Ha Son commune. When it was almost time to harvest, the orange trees showed signs of dying due to disease, the fruit was small, and could not be sold for a good price, so we were discouraged and did not want to take care of them anymore. We have converted some of the orange areas to grow sugarcane.

In the same situation, many households invested money to buy land to grow oranges, but did not have any harvest, leading to bankruptcy because of orange trees. Currently, some households are also trying to keep some orange areas to "save" capital, but it is not effective.

Mr. Nguyen Van Len in Minh Tho hamlet, Minh Hop commune, is taking care of a stunted orange garden and confided: During the golden age, oranges here sold for 50,000 - 80,000 VND/kg, but now the oranges are stunted and can only be sold for about 10,000 VND/kg.

Dry, leafless orange gardens in Minh Hop commune, Quy Hop. Photo: Van Truong

Mr. Le Viet Minh - Chairman of the LLCXuan Thanh Agricultureshare: In recent years, many households growing oranges in Phu Quy area have had their oranges spoiled, so the Company decided to "suspend orange growing" because it saw that there were too many households in the area suffering losses and failures from growing oranges.

Since 2020, the Company has allocated 120 million VND to hire the Plant Protection Institute to analyze soil samples in the orange growing area. The Plant Protection Institute has had results of the soil quality investigation and confirmed that the soil is not suitable for growing oranges, the indexes of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and trace elements are all not up to standard, especially there are pathogens in the soil. Greening disease, this disease makes the orange fruit small, the seeds in the fruit rot. When the tree is infected, its root system rots.

Many scientific delegations have come here to study and determine that the cause of the destruction of orange trees (yellow leaves, root rot) is caused by Fusarium and Phytophthora fungi. They have also recommended that farmers use new generation pesticides for prevention. However, up to now, there is no specific medicine to treat pests and diseases on orange trees in Phu Quy.

One of the orange gardens in Minh Hop commune, weeds grow everywhere and people do not want to take care of it. Photo: Van Truong

Some orange growing areas in Minh Hop commune have been converted to grow other crops by local people. Photo: Van Truong

Mr. Quan Vi Giang - Vice Chairman of the District People's CommitteeQuy Hopadded: After a long time of growing oranges in the Phu Quy area, the land has been degraded and infected with diseases, so it is necessary to let the land "rest" for a while, and after the land is "clean", it is reasonable to continue growing oranges. To find an effective way for orange trees, it is necessary to thoroughly treat the pathogens that harm oranges.

We will continue to update you on this issue.