Viet Reader.

VR.

Premier Newspaper for Vietnamese Worldwide

Northern mountainous provinces seek to expand consumption market for local fruit

 
Northern mountainous provinces seek to expand consumption market for local fruit

Local farmers in Vinh Phuc commune, Bac Quang district, Ha Giang province are packing oranges for consumption. (Photo: KHANH TOAN)   

NDO - The northern mountainous provinces have high potential and large areas of fruit trees, especially oranges and tangerines, which have brought about a great source of income for people and localities. However, the consumption of oranges and tangerines still faces many difficulties, particularly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Bac Kan province had over 1,200 ha of orange and tangerine trees in 2011 and the area has increased to over 3,500 ha in 2021, including over 2,000ha for harvesting. Bac Kan has implemented many projects to preserve the precious genetic resources of Bac Kan tangerines, while transferring technology to farmers to replicate the standard technical models in growing tangerines.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Na Ri district, Bac Kan province, Luong Thanh Loc said the conversion of inefficient hilly land to growing oranges is the right direction and the district will continue to expand the planting area and consumption through supermarkets across the country.

Tuyen Quang province currently has more than 8,600 ha of orange trees, including over 6,700 ha ready for harvesting. The concentrated orange planting areas of the province are located in Ham Yen district with nearly 7,000 ha and in Chiem Hoa district with more than 1,000 ha. Ham Yen district is expected to harvest about 80,000 tonnes of oranges of various kinds in this year's orange crop.

Ha Giang is the largest orange growing area in the northern mountainous region with more than 8,500 ha. Orange trees are a key crop, contributing to hunger eradication and poverty alleviation for local people in some districts such as Bac Quang, Quang Binh and Vi Xuyen.

The province earns about 700 billion VND per year from orange harvests, accounting for nearly 10% of the total value of the province’s agricultural sector. Ha Giang has more than 70 production facilities with about 3,500 orange-growing households, that have been certified with VietGAP standards on an area of ​​over 4,200 ha.

Director of Ha Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Hai Ly said Ha Giang oranges have to compete with many other orange growing regions in the country, such as Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, and Bac Giang, thus, the province has to improve the quality of orange products.

Hoa Binh is also a key province in the country for growing and consuming oranges and tangerines products. Hoa Binh orange trees boast the highest yield among other orange growing areas at about 22-24 tonnes per ha per year. The province has more than 10,000 ha of citrus trees, including over 6,000 ha of ​​oranges and tangerines.

Northern provinces are making efforts to build brands for their oranges and tangerines. Consumers have become familiar with Bac Kan tangerines and Ham Yen oranges grown in Ham Yen district, Tuyen Quang province, one of the 50 specialty fruits of Vietnam.

The northern mountainous provinces have entered the main season of the orange and tangerine harvest, but they are facing difficulties in consuming these fruits. Due to oversupply, the consumption of oranges and tangerines in Bac Kan has always been precarious and has not reached large markets over the past 10 years.

According to the Bac Kan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, because the price of tangerines is continuously decreasing, local farmers can only earn from 60-90 million VND per ha of tangerines each year, which is too low compared to their labour costs.

Localities have implemented many solutions to find markets for consuming oranges and tangerines. Director of Bac Kan Department of Industry and Trade Hoang Ha Bac said the department has provided detailed information on agricultural products to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the People's Committees of provinces and cities nationwide to seek support for the consumption of local produce. The province is also working with e-commerce platforms to put its agricultural products on sale.

Meanwhile, Ham Yen district in Tuyen Quang province has organised many events to boost the consumption of Ham Yen oranges, including a conference with traders in September, of which over 16,000 tonnes of oranges were sold. Two wholesale markets also opened which consume over 100 tonnes of oranges per day for shipment to central and southern provinces.

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Quang province Nguyen Van Viet expressed his hope that through consumption stimulation programmes, 100% of oranges will be sold in this season.

Ha Giang and Hoa Binh provinces have also promoted the consumption of oranges, through both traditional channels and e-commerce platforms, such as Sendo, voso, postmart and others in order to reduce restrictions on geographical location and intermediary stages.

According to the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), concentrated citrus production areas have been established in many localities such as Ha Giang, Hoa Binh, Bac Giang, Bac Kan and Lang Son. The total area of ​​citrus trees of the northern mountainous provinces is more than 121,000 ha (accounting for over 47.5% of the whole country).

However, citrus production in the northern mountainous provinces is facing many difficulties in finding consumption markets in addition to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the problem of consumption markets for oranges and tangerines needs to be addressed by both authorised agencies and localities to help local farmers feel secure to invest in growing these specialty fruit trees.

About author
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.
View all posts
More on this story