Low fruit set rate, Vinh orange growers worried

This year's orange crop has only 60-70% of the flowering and fruiting rate compared to previous orange crops, leaving farmers facing a low-yield orange crop. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Nguyen Duc Than's family (Bong Khe commune, Con Cuong) grows more than 1 hectare of yellow-heart oranges. Last year's orange crop was about to be harvested whenfallen orangesThe fruit yield was up to 70%, the yield was reduced to 1/3, the market price was low, so there was a loss. Immediately after harvesting the previous orange crop, his family focused on taking care of the orange tree to help it recover and grow: applying manure, phosphate, and synthetic nitrogen, pruning branches, weeding, and loosening roots with the hope of a new bumper crop of oranges. Currently, the orange tree is in the flowering and fruiting period, but the fruit set rate is very low.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Than said: "Compared to previous years, this year, the fruit set rate is only about 70%, the risk of affecting the final yield is inevitable."

In recent days, Mr. Hoang Van Hoan's family (Xuan Son hamlet, Van Loi commune, Quy Hop district) has been "sitting on fire" when the fruit set rate of 500 orange trees is only 60-70% compared to the previous orange crop. Many trees,low fruit set rateand the fruit also fell, even some orange trees only had a few young fruits left on the tree.

There are many orange trees that are very green but do not flower or bear fruit. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Hoang Van Hoan said: “In previous years, the orange trees bore a lot of fruit, so we had to cut off the young and bad fruit so that the tree could focus on growing the fruit. But this year, the orange trees bear very little fruit and a lot of it falls off, so many orange trees are bare, with only leaves left. The grass is thick, but we dare not plow or clean the grass for fear of damaging the trees, causing more fruit to fall off.”

According to Mr. Hoan, right after Tet, he invested in manure, nitrogen, and phosphate fertilizer for the orange trees, each tree costing about 150,000 VND for fertilizer. At the same time, he mobilized workers to prune branches and spray biological products to prevent pests. The orange trees recovered quite well but produced few flowers and had a very low fruit set rate. Next, he encountered cold rains that caused the young orange trees to drop a lot of fruit. There were many trees with no fruit left, so he had to cut them down and plant peanuts.

Oranges are falling quite a lot, not to mention that in the hot season, the upcoming Lao wind will be very harsh, making taking care of oranges even more difficult. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Pham Thi Quynh, Head of Xuan Son Hamlet (Van Loi, Quy Hop) said: “Before 2022, the whole hamlet had 100 households growing oranges with a total area of ​​115 hectares. However, after last year's orange crop failed due to heavy orange fall and low orange prices, the orange trees deteriorated, so people cut them down and switched to other crops such as sugarcane, peanuts, tangerines, apples, etc. Currently, the area of ​​oranges in the whole hamlet has decreased to 50 hectares. This orange crop, according to people in the hamlet, the oranges have few flowers, low fruit set rate, and many fruits have fallen, so the yield will certainly decrease. Meanwhile, the input costs for caring for orange trees have increased, making people very worried.”

According to the peopleorange growing areaThe reason why oranges flower and bear fruit less is because at the beginning of the season, there are continuous cold rains, affecting pollination, causing many flowers to fall, not bearing fruit, and even when some trees bear fruit, they still fall off. In addition, many orange gardens, although only planted for a few years, have degenerated, the orange trees are stunted, grow poorly, and produce few flowers.

Many areas of low-yielding orange trees have been cut down and replaced with peanuts. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“The fruit set rate is low, not to mention that when the hot season comes, the Lao wind will cause the oranges to lose young and green fruit. When it is almost time to harvest like last year, the oranges will also lose a lot, so the final yield will certainly be low. Households mainly rely on orange trees for their income, but at this rate, it will be difficult to sustain,” added Mr. Hoang Van Hoan.

Currently, the entire Quy Hop district has 360 hectares of oranges (a decrease of 950.6 hectares compared to 2020). Through a survey, this year's orange crop, the rate of oranges flowering and fruiting is much lower than last year, averaging only 60-70%. Faced with the situation of oranges flowering and fruiting less than last year, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has directed localities to guide people to closely visit gardens and monitor the development of oranges, especially during the current period of erratic sunny and rainy weather. At the same time, it has directed communes to clean gardens to avoid pests and diseases, affecting the development of orange areas that have fruited.

The orange gardens are overgrown with grass, but people do not dare to clear, weed, or hoe them for fear that the oranges will fall. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“Recently, the district has coordinated with the Provincial Plant Protection and Cultivation Department to invite experts from the Central Plant Protection Institute to train in techniques of care and pest control on citrus trees in general and orange trees in particular for orange growers in the communes of Minh Hop, Nghia Xuan, Chau Dinh, Van Loi, Ha Son. At the same time, the district has coordinated with the Soil Institute to collect soil samples in key orange tree communes for analysis and to find the cause."

Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quy Hop district

In the 2021 orange crop, many people lost everything when the oranges fell off en masse at the time of harvest. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The whole province has about 5,300 hectares of oranges, of which nearly 3,500 hectares are being harvested. After the end of the 2021 orange crop, people invested in fertilizers, biological products and labor days to care for the orange trees to recover, grow, flower and bear fruit, hoping for a new productive orange season. However, in many localities in the province, orange trees have degenerated, grown poorly, and the flowering and fruiting rate is lower than last year, making people very worried.

Faced with this situation, the authorities need to quickly intervene, clarify the cause and provide timely solutions so that people can feel secure in producing and investing in orange trees.