Orange areas waiting for the “death day”.

After the golden period, Nghe An orange cultivation plummets non-stop. Everything didn’t go according to plan, resulting in the policy of breeding citrus focused on this local orange tree on the verge of bankruptcy.

As in 2015, Nghe An province has 3,542 ha of oranges, this will increase to 4,735 ha in 2020 (over the period 2016-2020, an average increase of 5.98%/year). Orange areas are mainly concentrated in Quy Hop (1,633 ha), Nghia Dan (901 ha), Thanh Chuong (484 ha), Con Cuong (433 ha), Anh Son (193 ha), Tan Ky (168 ha) and Yen Thanh districts 314ha).

The productivity and yield of Nghe An oranges during this period are very good and keep up the leap year after year. In 2015, the average orange yield in the province reached more than 140 quintals/ha, in 2020 it rose to 156.4 quintals/ha (in the plains 171.5 quintals/ha; in the central mountains 155.9 quintals/ha, in mountains) 133 quintals/ha ha), much higher than the national average yield of oranges (141 quintals/ha). Nghe An orange production reached 28,588 tons in 2015, in 2020 it reached 59,320 tons (plain 11,325 tons; low mountain 43,307 tons; high mountain 4,688 tons).

It is the insiders who claim that Orange is a crop that brings very high economic value. Even in the last year of harvest, although the price fell sharply, the total income of the orange trees was still very positive, reaching 150-250 million VND/ha. In particular, there are areas with a yield of 30-40 tons/ha, when the price is high (about 25,000 VND/kg), the income can reach 750 million to 1 billion VND/ha. In particular, Xa Doai oranges in Nghi Dien commune (Nghia Loc) have a very high selling price of 50,000 – 80,000 VND/fruit and are always in short supply, not to mention how excited the owner of the garden is.

However, the happy days passed quickly, a number of unfavorable factors came together and left the orange industry in a miserable position. Farmers could not afford to cut down a number of new and old areas, the Vinh Orange brand was also losing ground, so people’s debts were growing day by day.

When the epidemic spread in Con Cuong District, the quality of the oranges was poor and the selling price was low (8,000-10,000 VND/kg), making it impossible for people to invest again. “Out of lovesickness”, about 1-3 years after the orange tree bears fruit, the gardener still tries to make the most of it, although the yield is only 3-5 tons/year, the selling price is only 3,000-5,000 VND/year , kg, the continued fluctuation makes the growers exhausted. This situation quickly spread to Anh Son, Thanh Chuong, Tan Ky, Nghia Dan districts…

As of October 2022, 1,624.7 hectares, accounting for 59.9% of the total area, have been degraded in 10 districts specializing in the cultivation of oranges in Nghe An province. Where the slight degradation is 546.1 ha, which is 33.6%; the average is 733.3 ha, which is 45.1%; weight is 345.3 ha, which corresponds to a share of 21.3%.

It should be known that orange trees require very high nutrition, which means a large and lengthy investment in order to expect the desired yield and quality, otherwise it is difficult to avoid degradation and degradation. So once orange growers are unable to engage in intensive farming or invest in drip-intensive farming, they will automatically fail.

It is impossible to “eat sticky rice” forever when money is empty, forcing farmers to gradually neglect orange trees, which is why the orange acreage in Nghe An has declined sharply recently.

If in 2020 in 10 major orange growing areas (Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Tan Ky, Anh Son, Con Cuong, Nghi Loc, Yen Thanh, Nghia Dan, Quy Hop, Thai Hoa) 4,460 hectares of oranges will grow in October 2022, only approx 2,200 – 2,500 ha left.

It is really worrying when many orange-growing areas are seriously degraded, especially in Thai Hoa city and Nam Dan district, the degradation rate reaches 100%, followed by Anh Son (83.3%), Nghia Dan (79). .0%). , Con Cuong (74.3%). The two districts of Nghi Loc and Yen Thanh aren’t too tragic, but you have to be extra careful if you don’t want to walk into the “falling lanes” like the orange capital of Quy Hop, which will be cleared of orange trees in the near future.

Tran Danh Tuan’s family in Dong Thanh Township, Yen Thanh District, started cultivating 1 ha of oranges in 2014. Realizing the outstanding economic value of the “billion dollar tree”, he replicated it in 2018 and 2022 active on 3 hectares, mainly Xa Doai oranges with about 800 trees, the rest are Van Du and V2 oranges. .

“Orange orchards started getting sick from 2021, officially broke out heavily from mid-2022 to now. Not like greening disease in the past, recently most of them yellow leaf disease, root rot and harmful fungi, which are deep in the soil, are difficult to deal with, although cut down to limit the spread, but they are not successful. . In the old garden of 2 hectares, 200 trees were destroyed, also in the new garden, 25 trees were felled initially, the situation has never been so tragic, the disease seemed widespread, we could not fight it,” said Tuan. soaking.

Spark the hope of “reviving” the orange tree.

According to the review, the orange area in Nghi Loc district is currently suffering from seed shedding, disease and waterlogging; Nghia Dan District, Quy Hop District, Tan Ky District and Thai Hoa City suffered from Greening’s disease and other fungal diseases; Quy Hop District due to green cover, fungal diseases and inert soil; Yen Thanh district due to nematode, fungus and cultivation techniques… Every place looks different, but the general situation of the orange trees in Nghe An is tragic.

The alarming situation shows that it is necessary to have a timely response plan to save the situation. In 2020–2021, Nghe An Cultivation and Crop Protection Sub-department built models “Integrated Management of Nutrients and Pests to Overcome the Phenomenon of Poor Quality Oranges, Fruit Drop Disease, Yellow Leaves and Root Rot on Orange Trees of the Business Period” for orange orchards of poor Quality in Con Cuong District.

After 2 years the results were quite impressive, the orange tree maintained its growth dynamics and developed well thanks to its strong roots, limitation of fruit drop, yellowing of leaves and root rot. Productivity in 2021 will reach 15-20 tons/ha, 5-7 tons/ha higher than in 2019 and 2020. Total sales of 2021 models will reach 350-400 million VND/ha, profit 250-300 million copper.

From this base, Nghe An Cultivation and Crop Protection Sub-Department will continue to select a 3-year-old orange orchard owned by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong at Trai Lac, Hamlet 1, Tang Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District in 2022. the current recession for further testing.

Accepting a major change in the process and refreshing the mindset of farmers has yielded sweet results. Orange orchards are well tended, apply science and technology properly, ensure a balanced diet, and combine strict management of pest factors to help the orange orchard achieve a spectacular revival. In general, the basic pests and diseases were contained, the orange trees with mild to moderate degradation were recovered and doing well.

Similarly, in 2022, Nghe An Ministry of Science and Technology built a model of applying technical measures in agriculture to 18 severely degraded orange plantations in Nghia Dan, Tan Ky, Con Cuong, Thanh Chuong and Yen Thanh districts.

The implementation process requires from the garden owners synchronous application and strict compliance with technical measures (garden cleaning, pruning, canopy and balanced fertilization (lime, macro, medium and micro fertilizers). ), Integrated disease management according to state science and technology issues, use of biological products. ..

Applying the built-in pest control process to objects like red spiders, magic worms, yellow flies, and suckers, the density, damage rate, and damage index are all significantly reduced. Diseases are controlled, profitability is assured, all models have yield over 13 tons/ha, profit of 170-200 million VND/ha, higher than control garden by 35-45%.