Tangerine trees are easy to grow and require little care, so many farmers in Long Hung and Hung Phu communes, My Tu district (Soc Trang province) have expanded their planting areas, gradually replacing ineffective crops such as sugarcane and cajuput trees.
Taking us to visit his family's tangerine garden, Mr. Nguyen Minh The, Hung Phu commune (My Tu district) confided: "This is the tangerine garden that is harvesting its first crop of fruit, with an area of 0.6 hectares. The entire tangerine garden was previously planted with cajuput trees. Due to the low economic efficiency of cajuput trees, I decided to switch to growing tangerines, increasing the total area of the tangerine garden to 2 hectares."
Mr. Minh The added: “The tangerine tree can be harvested after 3 years of planting. The tangerine tree bears fruit all year round and when the tree is 5 years old or older, the fruit yield is even higher, because the tree has many branches, twigs, and a wide canopy, so it produces a lot of fruit.
The peak harvest of tangerines is in the third and fourth lunar months and from the ninth lunar month to January. Tangerine prices are usually high during the dry season, from 20,000 to 22,000 VND/kg; during the rainy season, prices range from 16,000 to 18,000 VND/kg.
My family’s tangerine garden harvests 5 times a year, with a total yield of 20 tons. After deducting seasonal investment costs, the profit is more than 300 million VND/year. This amount is many times higher than growing sugarcane and cajuput trees.
Mr. Nguyen Minh The, Hung Phu commune, My Tu district (Soc Trang province) next to his family's tangerine garden, which brings in an income of over 300 million VND/year/2ha. Photo: THUY LIEU
“The fruit growing area in Hung Phu commune is nearly 440 hectares, of which the tangerine area is more than 325 hectares. Tangerine trees have been grown in Hung Phu commune for more than 20 years. Most of the tangerine gardeners have a well-off and prosperous life.
Currently, the commune has a cooperative growing tangerines and is continuing to develop another cooperative, moving towards establishing a tangerine growing cooperative to connect consumption with purchasing companies and businesses, serving the domestic market, including export.
Along with that, the commune has 30 hectares of tangerines with a planting area code issued by the specialized sector. Determining tangerines as the main crop of the locality, in the coming time, the commune will continue to encourage farmers to expand the planting of tangerines", said Mr. Tran Van Can - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Phu commune (My Tu district, Soc Trang province).
Having been attached to the tangerine tree for more than 20 years, Mr. Nguyen Hung Ban, Hung Phu commune said: "Although it is an easy-to-grow and low-maintenance tree, gardeners must pay attention to providing adequate nutrients for the tree.
Thanks to studying the characteristics of the tree, my 4ha tangerine garden has been cultivated for 20 years and still produces good yields. I grow tangerines using only organic fertilizer. The fertilizer is made from composted straw and cow manure. Before fertilizing the tree, I loosen the soil around the base of the tree before fertilizing the base. The best time to fertilize is at the beginning and end of the rainy season.
As the tree grows, I cut off the dry branches, trim the dense foliage around the base of the tree, creating ventilation for the tree to flower and bear fruit to achieve productivity. When the tree bears fruit, I should remove some of the fruit on the branches, leaving a moderate number of fruits, to help the fruit have uniform size and achieve the best quality.
In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to pests that attack leaves and fruits such as green worms, leaf miners, fruit flies, red spiders, etc. and promptly prevent and treat them.
Thanks to the good application of technical measures in cultivating tangerine gardens, the productivity of the tangerine garden will be maintained annually at 10 tons/ha. The total output of tangerines after harvest is 40 tons/4ha/year, the average selling price is 18,000 VND/kg, after deducting costs, the profit is more than 600 million VND/year.
The output of the tangerine fruit after harvest is quite good, traders come to the garden to buy. Currently, My Tu district (Soc Trang province) is oriented to develop concentrated fruit growing areas in these two communes, in which the two main crops will be developed: star apple and tangerine, because these types of trees are suitable for the land, give good yield and quality of fruit, and are favored by the market.
“To develop the district's fruit growing area well, the district will promote and mobilize farmers to convert economically inefficient crops to growing star apples and tangerines.
Along with that, the district will provide technical support for planting, instructions on how to care for the trees throughout their growth process, and have appropriate support policies for households in converting crops...", said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dien - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of My Tu district (Soc Trang province).
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