Vinh, the "capital" of oranges, has a scarcity of delicious oranges for sale during Tet (Lunar New Year).

The Xa Doai orange orchards in Quy Hop, with their golden flesh, have long since stopped bearing fruit. Photo: Xuan Hoang

It's only mid-December, but the key orange orchards in the district are already...Quy HopAll the fruit was gone, and there wasn't a soul in sight. The orange growers said that this year, due to the large number of unripe oranges falling off the trees, the harvest was completed early.

Mr. Huynh Huu Phuoc, owner of a 3-hectare orange orchard in Tho Thanh hamlet, Minh Hop commune, said: "Last year, my family harvested oranges until just before Tet (Lunar New Year), but this year, the entire orchard was sold out before the twelfth lunar month. The reason is that too many oranges fell off the trees this year, so the amount of oranges sold on the market has decreased sharply."

Too many unripe oranges have fallen off the trees, causing a sharp decrease in the supply of Vinh oranges from Quy Hop to the market this year. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Vo Van Phong, Deputy Director of Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited (Quy Hop), said: The company currently has 330 hectares of commercial orange orchards. This year, too many oranges have fallen off the trees, so the yield is only about 4,000 tons, and the quality is poor.Vinh orangesPrices have also dropped here; orange prices are lower than last year, resulting in lower incomes for orange growers. Almost 100% of the Xa Doai yellow-fleshed oranges (approximately over 100 hectares) and hundreds of hectares of V2 and Van Du oranges have finished their harvest early, leaving no oranges to sell during the upcoming Lunar New Year.

"It is expected that during and after Tet, only the late-ripening V2 oranges will be available for sale."market"However, the area is not large, and the remaining Xa Doai oranges with golden flesh and guaranteed quality and beautiful appearance are not available for sale during Tet like in previous years," said Mr. Vo Van Phong.

Piles of diseased orange tree stumps, dug up by locals, are stacked along the roadside. Photo: Quang An

Observations show that along the roads in the orange-growing region of Quy Hop, many piles of freshly dug-up orange tree roots are being dried for firewood. Locals say that the orange trees are severely diseased, so people have to dig them up to plant other trees.

It has been learned that recently, the Institute of Plant Protection (Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences) released the results of soil sample testing in the Quy Hop orange growing area, showing that the soil was contaminated with several fungi that cause diseases in orange trees, exceeding permissible levels.

Mr. Quan Vi Giang, Vice Chairman of the Quy Hop District People's Committee, said: After receiving the results of soil sample testing from the Institute of Plant Protection in key orange-growing communes, the District People's Committee advised people in Minh Hop and Nghia Xuan communes to stop planting new orange trees. Orange growers need to switch crops and rotate crops to improve the soil for 3-5 years, then replant orange trees with disease-free varieties.