(HBO) – Over the past five years, My Hoa commune of Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province stepped up economic structure transfer, focusing on citrus trees which are now growing rapidly, initially bringing positive outcomes and raising hope for a better life of locals.

Ha Cong Tien, Vice Chairman of the communal People’s Committee, said that orange and pomelo trees have been revitalized in My Hoa after they are added to the citrus planting area in 2013. Total area of citrus trees in My Hoa stands at 197ha, with 112ha of orange and the remaining for green-skin and red-fleshed grapefruits. Thanks to suitable soil and hardworking farmers, orange and pomelo trees have yielded fruits after five years. 

Local farmers have land while businesses and the private sector contribute varieties, capital, technologies and farming experience. Therefore, cooperation between locals and businesses in Dong Ha has brought about tangible benefits. We felt dizzy when seeing orchards of orange trees weighted down with fruits although they are just five years old.  

Chu Van Duong, head of Dong Ha hamlet, who took us to orange orchards, said up to 40 out of 46 households in the hamlet have planted orange trees with most of the orchards reaching 4-5 years. Last year, many orchards began to bear fruits. This year, 30 households have officially harvested orange. Each household in the hamlet own about 1ha of land. Moreover, most of locals used to work in the Thanh Ha farm, so they have some experience in orange planting. Many traders are coming to buy orange. A number of them even asked to buy the whole orchard. Canh orange price increased from 20,000 VND per kg to 30,000 VND this year. The price of V2 orange also climbed from 30,000 VND per kg in the previous season to 35,000-40,000 VND this year. 

like other farmers in Dong Ha hamlet, happiness can be seen on the face of Vu Xuan Dang, who has joined hands with private businesses to plant orange trees on an area of 1.6 ha over the past five years. Last year, he collected more than 20 tonnes of orange. This year, the output is expected to be much higher as each Canh orange tree can bear 50-70 fruits. 

"Many people visiting my orchard don’t think that it is just five years old as many trees look as if they have been planted for 8-10 years,” he said.

Next to Dang’s orchard is that of Lo Van Huu which is hoped to break even this year although orange cultivation requires a big amount of money. To gain sustainable outcomes, Huu and other farmers in My Hoa commune have registered to participate in safe production model in line with VietGap standards. 

My Hoa still has about 100ha of land favourable for citrus planting, which could bring about high economic benefits to locals with support in sales./.