Sweet orange season

Not only famous for green-skinned grapefruit, in recent years, Bac Khanh Vinh commune has also been known for its orange gardens full of juicy, sweet fruit...

Not only famous for its green-skinned grapefruit, in recent years, Bac Khanh Vinh commune has also been known for its orchards of Xoàn oranges, full of juicy, sweet fruit. Although not yet a main crop, Xoàn oranges are contributing to increasing people’s income, gradually affirming the brand of highland agricultural products.

Orange orchards laden with fruit

In early October, the road leading to Suoi Thom village, Bac Khanh Vinh commune, is covered in a lush green color of fruit trees. From afar, the pomelo and orange gardens stand out in the early morning sun, the bustling atmosphere of work spreads throughout the countryside as people are busy harvesting the ripe orange crop. Leading us through the fruit-laden garden, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue - one of the households with a large area of ​​fruit trees in Suoi Thom village happily said: "This season, the oranges are in season, the fruits are plump and juicy, traders come to the garden to buy them."

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hue next to the orange garden full of plump, juicy fruits.

On an area of ​​more than 5 hectares of production land, Ms. Hue's family grows green-skinned grapefruit mixed with durian and xoan oranges. Although the area of ​​xoan oranges only accounts for a small part, it brings clear economic efficiency thanks to a good harvest and stable prices. Ms. Hue said that in the past, the garden mainly grew grapefruit, but due to the impact of natural disasters and pests, many trees were damaged and fell. Since 2019, her family has switched to intercropping xoan oranges. Unexpectedly, the tree is suitable for the climate, has few pests and diseases, and has good quality, so her family has expanded the area. From a few dozen original trees, the garden now has about 400 orange trees, each harvest is from 3 to 4 tons, traders buy at the garden for 20,000 VND/kg. Thanks to that, her family has an additional stable source of income. Ms. Hue shared: “The technique of growing Xoàn oranges is not too difficult, just need to choose good varieties, loose soil, good drainage and fertilize at the right time, after 3 years the tree will start to bear fruit. Compared to grapefruit trees, Xoàn oranges have a better price. We hope to have a stable purchasing location to confidently invest and expand production.”

Not far from Mrs. Hue's garden, the Xoàn orange garden of Mrs. Hoang Thi Minh - Director of Khanh Binh Agricultural Cooperative is in the harvest season. Mrs. Minh said that in 2018, she tried planting a dozen trees in the grapefruit garden, unexpectedly the trees suited the soil, grew quickly, had few pests and diseases, yellow flesh, few seeds and were sweet. From then on, she planted some more trees. "Every season, I often livestream to sell products, picking and selling everything. This year, the Xoàn oranges are not only in season but also of very consistent quality, all the fruits are juicy, not dry like every year. Xoàn oranges are easy to care for and suitable for the climate, so anyone can grow them. In recent years, thanks to support programs on varieties and techniques from the State, many ethnic minority households in the area have started to grow and earn income from Xoàn orange trees," said Mrs. Minh.

Crop diversity for highland areas

The Xoàn orange tree appeared in Bac Khanh Vinh area from around 2013, and in 2016 it started to give the first harvest. Realizing that the tree is suitable for the climate and produces delicious fruit, people began to expand the planting area. Up to now, the whole Bac Khanh Vinh commune has about 20 hectares of Xoàn oranges, evenly distributed in the villages, with a yield of about 5 - 7 tons/ha. This is the commune with the largest Xoàn orange area in Khanh Vinh area.

In order for crops to grow stably, recently, the Commune Farmers' Association has coordinated with the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Agricultural Extension Center, and the Plant Protection Station to organize training courses, inviting engineers to the gardens to guide farmers on planting and care techniques. At the same time, it has organized farmers to visit effective models; set up Zalo and Facebook groups to promptly support, advise, and guide people when crops are affected by pests and diseases; compiled technical handbooks for free distribution, helping people to easily apply them.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue packs oranges for customers.

According to Mr. Le Dinh Chinh - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Bac Khanh Vinh Commune, the pomelo is not yet a main crop but has proven to be quite effective economically. For mountainous areas like Bac Khanh Vinh, having another suitable fruit tree helps people diversify their crop structure and reduce risks in production.

In the context that the locality is promoting the transformation of crop structure towards sustainability, pomelo is considered a suitable direction, making good use of the advantages of climate and soil. However, Mr. Chinh said that the current difficulty is that the production scale is still small, the product quality is not consistent, the output is mainly through traders so the price is not stable. The locality hopes that in the coming time, all levels and sectors will continue to pay attention to investment, support brand building, connect product consumption, creating conditions for Bac Khanh Vinh pomelo to have a firmer position in the market.

C.VAN

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202510/mua-cam-xoan-ngot-d6a4aab/