Yen Khe (Con Cuong): Oranges fall off in large numbers

(Baonghean) - This orange crop, many people in Yen Khe commune - Con Cuong hoped for a big hit because every orange garden was full of fruit. But near the harvest day, the oranges fell off in large numbers, combined with the closure of the production, causing difficulties for orange growers...

We went to the "orange orchard" in Tan Huong village, Yen Khe commune (Con Cuong). Unlike the bustling atmosphere of orange harvesting like every year, this is the main harvest season but there are few customers coming to buy oranges. On both sides of the road, orange growers have to set up stalls to sell oranges. Visiting Mr. Dang Thai Hoa's orange orchard, he sadly said: "This year's oranges have been well cared for, so they are very fruitful, some trees yield 1.2-1.5 quintals. But when the harvest day comes, oranges fall in large numbers, every day there are fruits falling, the fresh green fruits start to turn yellow, then rot and fall off." Mr. Hoa's orange orchard is over 1.2 hectares wide, mainly Van Du variety and currently has about 40 tons of oranges falling, if calculated at the price of 25,000 VND/kg in the garden, he has suffered a loss of over 100 million VND this season. According to Mr. Hoa, the cause is not yet clear, it could be due to pests or heavy rain causing the oranges to fall.

Mr. Dang Thai Hoa in Tan Huong - Yen Khe - Con Cuong is picking up fallen oranges.

Mr. Luong Van Nghe, Tan Huong village sadly said: "All the money borrowed from the family was invested in the orange garden, 1 hectare of oranges/100 million VND, when the harvest day came, the fruit fell off in large numbers. It was a pity". Up to now, Mr. Nghe's 2 hectares of oranges have lost about 30 tons, currently there are 10 tons left to harvest. Mr. Nghe estimated that this year's orange garden will earn nearly 1 billion VND, minus expenses, the profit is from 500 - 600 million VND, but the oranges have lost a lot of fruit, combined with the difficulty in selling, so it is a heavy loss. In Tan Huong village, other orange growers are in similar situations: Mr. Lo Van Tu's household planted 250 orange trees and lost more than 12 tons, Mr. Lo Van Tuan's household lost 6 tons, Mr. Lo Van Ung's household lost 3 tons, Mr. Luong Van Kieu's household lost 10 tons... According to our observations, in addition to the phenomenon of ripe yellow oranges falling off, the proportion of green fruit falling off is also quite high. Currently, farmers have not determined the cause and there is no treatment to limit orange drop.

For a long time, everyone has known the brand "Con Cuong oranges", but this year, the output for oranges is very difficult. According to many orange growers, the reason is that currently Chinese oranges and many other types of oranges are "imitating" Con Cuong oranges, so Con Cuong oranges are gradually losing their brand. Moreover, the prolonged rain has reduced the sugar content of the oranges, making them blander and less delicious than in other years, making them difficult to sell. Currently, in Mr. Dang Thai Hoa's garden, there are still over 5 tons of unsold oranges, and every day the fruits fall one after another. Mr. Hoa said: "Oranges are difficult to sell, so we have lowered the price to 20,000 VND/kg, but there are still no buyers. Each day we only sell 1-2 quintals of oranges, some days we only sell 30 kg, while the investment cost is over 100 million VND, not to mention the effort and labor costs, which is a loss of capital."

Mr. Vi Van Dau - Chairman of Yen Khe Commune People's Committee said: Since 2004, implementing the project "Restoring orange trees in the period of 2004-2015" of Con Cuong District People's Committee, Yen Khe Commune has planted over 50 hectares (mainly Van Du orange variety). Thanks to growing oranges, many households have changed their lives, each orange garden creates jobs for 4-5 local workers. This year, oranges fell in large numbers, causing heavy damage to orange growers, it is estimated that the whole commune lost over 150 tons, equivalent to about 3.7 billion VND in damage. The current problem is that oranges are difficult to sell, so people have not harvested them yet, the amount of oranges falling every day increases, causing great economic damage"...

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thai - Head of Con Cuong Agricultural Extension Station said: The whole Con Cuong district currently has 91 hectares of oranges, of which Van Du oranges account for over 60 hectares. This is an early-ripening, high-yielding orange variety, with an average weight of 180 - 200g/fruit; the advantages are resistance to pests and diseases, drought resistance, thick, juicy and sweet skin. However, it is harvested early in October - November, and if it rains, the fruit often falls off. It can be confirmed that the cause of fruit fall is that this year there was a lot of rain, and during the main harvest season, there was rain, so the phenomenon of "physiological fruit fall" occurred. The district Agricultural Extension Station has advised people that when the oranges are ripe, they need to sell them immediately and not wait for the price, because if it rains, they will fall off. The current solution is to intercrop other late-ripening orange varieties with Van Du oranges to avoid rain, and harvest them on the occasion of Lunar New Year like the V2 orange variety.

Van Truong