According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tra On district in Vinh Long province, the price of oranges has continued to rise as of Feb. 22. At present, qualified oranges (right harvest, nice fruits) cost about 10,000-11,000 VND/kg, unqualified oranges cost about 7,000 VND/kg.

Other provinces within the province also have similar prices. Mr. Nguyen Van De, Director of Hieu Trung Oranges Cooperative (Hieu Nghia Municipality, Vung Liem District) said, “In this area, traders buy 11,000 VND/kg, the time to return the garden is at the end of February.”

According to Mr De, the cooperative has 18 members who produce 26 ha of oranges and yield around 100 tons/ha. In this year’s orange season, most of the women touched the fruit directly on the occasion of Tet, so production stagnated. Inside are about 300 tons of low-grade oranges, which can only be sold for 2,000-3,000 VND/kg. The rest is sold at 5,000 VND/kg. Mr. De added that the price of oranges is VND 11,000/kg, after deducting costs and investment depreciation, the profit is about VND 3,000/kg.

After the Tet orange season, the remaining members’ oranges are not yet ripe. The new oranges are expected to ripen around April. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vinh Long Province, more than 17,076 hectares are planted with oranges across the province. Tra On district has the largest area of ​​oranges under cultivation with 9,918 hectares, followed by Tam Binh and Vung Liem districts with 3,310 hectares and 2,683 hectares respectively. The orange yield in the province is between 60 and 100 tons/ha, depending on the age of the trees.