In order to increase the income value of citrus fruit farmers, the National Agricultural Extension Center has implemented the project “Construction and Development of an Intensive Orange Farming Model to Improve the Yield, Quality and Value of Hung Yen Orange Products”. The total area of ​​30 hectares of oranges and sugar canoes participating in the model is used for business in some key orange-growing areas in Hung Yen Province.

The secret to keeping the fruit on the tree for a long time

Mr. Nguyen Quang Khanh, head of the Department of Science and Technology Transfer – Information, Communication, Training and Education (Hung Yen Agricultural Extension Center) said that his unit was tasked with organizing the implementation of the model to substantially achieve the set project goals complete off.

Compared to the control of orange orchards planted outdoors, the oranges in the growth model were more balanced, less pests and diseases, especially not infected with greening virus (yellow leaf disease). The quality of the oranges is significantly better, the average yield is 25.2 tons of fruit/ha, the profit increased by about 60 million VND/ha.

Mr. Tran Van Binh, Director of Tam Da Agricultural Cooperative (Phu Cu District, Hung Yen) said: This year, the cooperative has 10 hectares of oranges in the agricultural expansion model, which will surely bring very high harvest value and expected income. estimated at VND 1.1 billion/ha, production efficiency higher than control, about VND 300 million per hectare.

The orange variety of the cooperative participating in the model is the famous and delicious Vinh Long orange. Instead of fertilizing individual nitrogen and NPK, the cooperative only fertilizes crushed soybean seeds and fermented aquatic by-products with superphosphate. At the same time, keep the fruit on the tree until the Lunar New Year to sell it.

“The price of Tet orange is always 40,000 VND/kg or more, while in early sale at the beginning of the season (October to November) the price is only around 20,000 VND/kg. But in order to keep the fruit on the tree for a long time, to extend the harvest time, oranges have to be fertilized with fertilizers of organic origin or microorganisms,” says Mr. Binh.

Mr. Pham Van Vinh from Lam Son District (Hung Yen City) excitedly said that he participated in the farm expansion model with an area of ​​1 ha of oranges. This year’s fruit yield is estimated at 27 tons, higher than the yield of oranges grown outside the model and is generally around 5 tons/ha. The quality of the oranges is delicious, sweeter and the proportion of type 1 fruit is almost absolute. Accordingly, the income/ha will definitely be higher than the control by VND 70 million or more.

“It’s almost a month until the harvest season is full of oranges, but the oranges in my family’s agricultural expansion model are already sweet and juicy because I also buy microorganic fertilizer in addition to the support with phosphorus and NPK. Guilin instead of urea fertilizes oranges,” says Vinh satisfied.

Examination of the orange expansion model in Dong Thanh (Kim Dong), Tam Da (Phu Cu) and Lam Son (Hung Yen City) communes all yielded similar results. In addition, the farmers also expressed the desire to expand the model in the years to come.

Solutions for sustainable orange cultivation

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hue, deputy chief of the Technology Transfer Department (Hung Yen Agricultural Extension Center), recommended that farmers must choose fields with thick cultivation layers and good drainage in order for orange orchards to be as effective as the above models. The groundwater level is below 0.8 m, the pH of the soil between 5.5 and 6.5.

The planting density is 600 – 620 plants/ha, the planting distance is 4 x 4 m. It is best to plant by branching varieties, in order to use business fruits quickly, just choose the source of seeds that do not have yellow leaves and green ones have veins. The business should only be operated for about 7-8 years, then switch to orange cultivation on new fields.

Fertilizer, depending on the age of the tree, the actual growth of the tree and the amount of fruit taken from the previous crop, to care for it accordingly. Be sure to balance NPK fertilizer with microbiological fertilizer to help plants grow in balance and reduce the incidence of dangerous diseases.

Pruning is like an orange with more fertilizer, helping to rejuvenate the tree’s physiological age and avoiding unnecessary nutrient depletion. Perform the pruning on the tree right after the fruit is harvested, remove the tip of the mother branch, cut any branches that have just fruited, diseased branches, invalid or unsuitable branches. Regularly prune straight branches, Branches grow into the canopy, branches grow parallel, cross and become too thick…

For trees with crown defects, the overhanging branch can be used to form a new branch to fill the gap. It may not be possible to prune near the base of the overhang, after shoots have emerged around the cut, select healthy shoots in the right direction to fill in the bare or clipped branches beyond the position on the leaves (that close as possible at the base) and tend to grow towards the gap in the canopy.

Prune branches, form canopy on the principle “top down, outside canopy in”. Should shape the canopy before pruning. Pruning fruits, cutting off irregular fruits, small fruits and fruits in the wrong position. favorable or fused in clusters.

Clean the garden grass regularly, but do not spray it with herbicides; Depending on the growing season of the plant for appropriate watering, limit watering in the flowering differentiation period, water enough moisture during flowering, water enough during fruit development.

Greening and yellow fruit flies are difficult to prevent on orange trees. To prevent greening disease, it is necessary to choose disease-free varieties, immediately destroy diseased plants and remove cicadas at an early stage with one of the drugs Confidor 700WP, Alika 247SE, Regent 800WG, Dylan 2EC in the period of 2 young shoots. – 3cm .

Fruit flies usually appear from July, the highest density of flies is late October and early November. Use Feromol Fly Kill to cling to old trees, or spray foliar fertilizer with vegetable essential oils, repel yellow flies.