Worry about Tet mango crop

At this time in previous years, farmers in Suoi Gieng, Tan Duc commune, Ham Tan district were busy tending to their mango gardens to produce clean, beautifully designed products, ensuring quality for the Tet market. However, this year, things have been quiet because the mangoes have not flowered or borne fruit, causing many gardeners to worry.

The road passes through the mango orchards, most of the mango trees in the orchard do not bear fruit but have green shoots.

Suoi Gieng is one of the largest mango growing areas in the province with more than 80 hectares, mainly growing Taiwanese mangoes. For many years, this mango growing area has always been sought after by consumers and traders, especially during the Lunar New Year, because of its delicious and sweet quality. However, this year, many mango garden owners are worried that there will be no mangoes for sale during the 2024 Lunar New Year, which means there will be no traders or consumers coming to buy.

Mr. Cai held a mango flower with its stem exposed.

Mr. Phan Van Cai - former head of Suoi Gieng village, who cultivates 4 hectares of Taiwanese mangoes and sand mangoes, said he was worried that this year the mangoes did not flower or bear fruit because of poor care techniques or poor quality fertilizers. I cultivated 4 hectares but only a few trees bore fruit, enough to sell during Tet.

Many other gardeners in the village are also in the same situation, worried about not having mangoes to sell during Tet. In previous years, at this time, gardeners took care of their mango gardens when the mangoes were blooming and bearing fruit. They were busy wrapping the fruit to create clean products with beautiful designs, ensuring quality to serve the Tet market. But this year, everywhere in the mango garden is quiet, Mr. Nguyen Van Luy - Head of Suoi Gieng village said, this year, many mango growers in Suoi Gieng will not have mangoes to sell because every mango garden has young shoots; some gardens have flowers and fruits but very few. At this time, whenever mangoes bloom, they will sell fruit outside of Tet, and when they see fruits as big as a thumb, they will sell them during Tet. Many gardeners explained that the reason is that the weather is more erratic than usual, so the trees do not flower as expected and are attacked by pests; the trees that flower only bear a few fruits or have bare flower stalks.

Mr. Phan Van Cai's mango garden only has a few trees with fruit.

Previously, the People's Committee of Tan Duc Commune established the Tan Duc Mango Cooperative in Suoi Gieng, cultivating about 23 hectares out of a total of 80 hectares of mangoes. In February 2023, this Cooperative was granted a growing area code for export to the markets of Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Currently, the Tan Duc Mango Cooperative is making efforts to attach OCOP stars to local mangoes. However, currently, members of the Cooperative are cultivating in the off-season, harvesting before, during and after the New Year and Lunar New Year, so there are no products to export abroad. Therefore, representatives of the Tan Duc Mango Cooperative and local authorities are making efforts to seek cooperation opportunities with partners who are domestic mango purchasing and exporting enterprises with the expectation of raising the position of Tan Duc mangoes, while increasing income for farmers who are dedicated to growing clean, quality mangoes locally.

The story of Suoi Gieng mango trees having a good harvest and falling prices and good prices and bad harvests is not unique to many other fruit trees in other growing regions, which has always been a concern for farmers in recent years. And now, for many reasons, there is a risk of this happening again before the peak season at the end of the year and Tet. However, with experience in handling and caring for trees, as well as creating quality fruit products, even though the output is not much, mango growers in Suoi Gieng expect good prices and profits to have a warmer and more prosperous Tet. Mr. Hoang Duc Ta - Vice Chairman of Tan Duc Commune People's Committee recommends that gardeners regularly take measures to prevent diseases caused by the weather, take care of trees regularly and must comply with VietGAP production principles to create prestige and maintain the mango brand in the market. The commune is also aiming to build warehouses to preserve and process agricultural products for people...

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