Orange cultivation, sale support project proves effective

This year, the market price for Cao Phong orange ranges from 17,000 VND to 22,000 VND per kilo. Meanwhile, with the price of 20,000 VND per kilo, Ha Phong Cooperative’s supply of 2.5 tonnes per day to the Big C supermarket system is making many orange farm owners jealous.

Ha Phong cooperative invests in cold storage system for preserving orange fruits before selling to the market.

Le Van Cuong, Director of Ha Phong cooperative in Mon village, Bac Phong commune, said that the cooperative was established and put into operation in 2016. Up to now, the cooperative has 10 members managing 144 hectares of the fruit. This is the area contributed by members in the cooperative which is specialised in buying, preserving, preliminary processing and selling of orange products to the domestic market.

Recently, the cooperative has participated in the project to "support the cultivation and consumption of Cao Phong orange in the direction of quality certification improvement and brand management" launched by the district People's Committee. The project aims to give a number of support policies for the formation of cultivation and selling chain of Cao Phong orange to ensure food safety with consumption chain spanning from growers to consumers. Thanks to the policies, in 2017 and 2018, the cooperative secured consumption contracts with the Big C supermarket system. Under the contracts, from October 15, 2018, every day, the cooperative supplies the system with 2.5 tonnes of orange with a price fixed at 20,000 VND per kilo.

Like Ha Phong cooperative, Hung Phong company, based in Zone 2, Cao Phong town, has become a major consumer of orange in Tan Phong, Thu Phong, Dung Phong, Nam Phong, Bac Phong, Dong Phong communes and surrounding areas.

According to statistics, by 2018, Cao Phong district has 3,056.2 hectares of orange, with 61 hectares planted in 2018. Of this, the area with commercial yield covers 1,589.3 hectares, and that of ​​the development stage, 1,407.7 hectares. Particularly, among the nearly 1,600 hectares of yielding farms, nearly 800 hectares have been granted VietGAP certificates. It is estimated that Cao Phong's orange output will reach 35,000 tonnes in the 2018 – 2019 crop. By now, thanks to good promotion and communications, Cao Phong orange products have become popular among domestic consumers and entered the top 10 brands in Vietnam.