Find the orange capital Vinh

(Baonghean) -Before 2005, Vietnam only had about 10 agricultural products with established geographical indications such as Buon Me Thuot coffee, Hau Giang fragrant rice...Geographical indications are a passport to bring local products to other regions, even to international markets. Understanding the value of oranges, Nghe An province has built the Vinh Orange Geographical Indication since 2010.

From the “capital” Cam Vinh…

Our first destination was Minh Hop commune, Quy Hop district, known as the "capital" of Cam Vinh.

According to the elders who were cadres and workers of state-owned farms during the subsidy period such as Farm 3-2 and Farm Xuan Thanh, orange trees have been grown in Minh Hop for a long time, especially strongly developing in the 60s and 70s of the last century.

At this stage, oranges grown here were known throughout the country, exported to Eastern European countries in quantities of up to thousands of tons. Also from that period, consumers recognized oranges as one of Nghe An's specialty products with the name "Vinh Orange".

Mr. Hoang Minh - Director of Xuan Thanh Agricultural Company Limited, Chairman of Vinh Orange Association said: before the Geographical Indication was established, oranges were only priced at 5,000 - 7,000 VND/kg. Since the Geographical Indication was established, Vinh oranges have increased in value many times.

Currently, in Minh Hop, the orange acreage has reached over 2,000 hectares, of which half are in the commercial period. At this time, the orange gardens in Minh Hop are really pleasing to the eye. The orange gardens on the low hillsides of red basalt soil stretch far and wide. In the lush green of the trees and leaves, there are ripe oranges. And the orange gardens are always bustling with buyers and sellers.

Harvesting at the orange garden of Mr. Duong Minh Tan in Minh Hop commune (Quy Hop).

Oranges in Minh Hop area are mainly grown in Valencia, Xa Doai long vang, Van Du and cool orange varieties. Cool oranges have the most fruit and ripen the earliest, but have low value, about 15,000 - 20,000 VND/kg; the remaining orange varieties are from 25,000 - 40,000 VND/kg; there are some gardens that keep oranges until the Lunar New Year, oranges cost from 85,000 - 120,000 VND/kg. Mr. Minh also affirmed that Quy Hop orange growers with about 0.5 hectares are "alive".

This was confirmed by Mr. Kieu Quang Vinh - a garden owner: with only 0.7ha of Van Du oranges, in 2015, after deducting the cost of fertilizer and care, he earned 800 million VND. This year, due to bad weather and heavy rain, diseases broke out, the oranges fell, the yield was lower but it will still bring in about 700 million VND.

As for the Chairman of Tan Thanh Cooperative, Mr. Duong Minh Tan, owns 5 hectares of oranges, just 1 hectare with 450 Xa Doai orange trees with golden heart has a yield of no less than 45 tons. Someone offered to buy them at 42,000 VND/kg but he did not agree because he planned to sell them during Tet.

Roughly calculating, with 1 hectare of oranges, if sold to the person who placed the "purchase" order, it would bring in nearly 2 billion VND. Mr. Tan said, near Tet, Xa Doai oranges with golden hearts would sell for no less than 70,000 - 80,000 VND/kg.

According to Mr. Phan Dinh Dat - Deputy Secretary of Quy Hop District Party Committee, orange trees are now not only the main crop in Minh Hop, but have also spread to Van Loi, Nghia Xuan, Ha Son communes... In 2011, the area of ​​orange trees in the district was about 1,100 hectares; now it has reached about 2,500 hectares. Quy Hop District has issued resolutions and projects to plan and develop this type of tree; in which, orange growers are guided to implement the production process according to a common standard, ensuring food hygiene and safety.

"Spread" the orange zones

We followed the Ho Chi Minh road, up National Highway 7 to reach the orange region of Con Cuong district. Oranges in this locality are grown in large numbers in the communes of Yen Khe, Bong Khe, Chi Khe; the quality is not inferior to Quy Hop oranges.

Con Cuong orange growers said that, since the time when Bai Phu Farm was still prosperous, there were large orange gardens among the vast tea hills. Bai Phu oranges were also an export product to bring foreign currency and machinery to the country.

During the period of weakening of the state-owned farm, orange trees gradually declined and have only been restored in the last 10 years. But it seems that thanks to that, the land of Bai Phu Farm was able to “rest”, and the orange trees planted were more vigorous.

Households in Dinh Son - Anh Son take care of oranges. Photo: NS

At this time, buying Con Cuong oranges in the garden is also priced at 32,000 VND/kg. According to the staff of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Con Cuong district, there are about 255 hectares of oranges here. The district has planned to expand the orange growing area until 2020, with a vision to 2025, identifying oranges as the main crop in Yen Khe, Bong Khe, Chi Khe communes and expanding to Thach Ngan, Mau Duc, Don Phuc, Binh Chuan, Chau Khe, Luc Da communes.

Con Cuong district even considered inviting a specialized orange growing enterprise to build a model orange field in Mon Son with an area of ​​nearly 100 hectares.

Near the border of Con Cuong, there is a residential area in Dinh Son commune (Anh Son) that has also specialized in growing orange trees for the past five years. This area is also part of Bai Phu Farm land, so orange trees have been here for quite a long time.

When seeing Con Cuong oranges becoming popular, Dinh Son people thought of re-establishing the old fruit tree variety, so they spontaneously invested money to replant. A total of 106 households participated in planting with an area of ​​over 60 hectares, many households planted over 1 hectare... Visiting Mrs. Dang Thi Nham's garden, although busy with customers, she still took the time to cut oranges to invite guests and happily said: Bai Phu oranges are of high quality, we are growing and selling them ourselves, ensuring that the oranges are clean.

Oranges are sold at Sang Le intersection (Quy Hop)

During the long trip, we went to the orange regions, visited many orange gardens. In addition to the orange regions in Quy Hop, Con Cuong, Anh Son..., there is also Yen Thanh with orange regions in 2 communes Minh Thanh and Dong Thanh.

The orange area in these two communes is currently more than 150 hectares, of which there are two large farms with an area of ​​over 10 hectares. The oranges here are of the lemon variety, very beautiful in appearance, large in size, and bright yellow in color. When peeling off the outer layer, the essential oil from the peel gives off a very fragrant aroma; when eaten, the taste is richly sweet, mixed with a light, pleasant spicy taste, and is unique...

Leaving the orange regions, we reviewed the Geographical Indication of Vinh Orange to compare with the present time, and found that orange trees have been added to the agricultural product map of many districts and towns of the province. Not only in Xa Doai (Nghi Loc), Hung Trung (Hung Nguyen), Quy Hop, Yen Thanh, Tan Ky, but also in Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong districts... even the mountainous border district of Que Phong, high-quality orange trees are present.

(To be continued)

PV Group