Smart new rural construction technology

The explosive growth of citrus trees, including oranges, in recent years has made this product on the market at times cheaper than ever, even only a few thousand VND/kg. Meanwhile, Cao Phong oranges from the director of Cao Phong 3T Agricultural Cooperative (3Tfarm) have a rather high price in the market. Especially, Cao Phong oranges, Hoa Binh province have been geographically indicated as high-class gifts thanks to the application of technology in cultivation and processing.

  Cao Phong oranges (Hoa Binh) in the harvest season with clusters of yellow fruits laden with branches. Photo: Le Son

Bold, daring, some even said it was reckless when assessing Ms. Vu Thi Le Thuy, Director of 3Tfarm - who decided to bring the oranges of the famous land of Cao Phong, Hoa Binh province. Geographical indications become premium gifts.

Science, technology and production reorganization are assessed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as two important pillars in the project of restructuring the agricultural sector towards modernity.

When she saw foreign fruit products on the market with gift baskets ranging from a few hundred to millions of dong, Thuy wondered why delicious, high-quality Vietnamese fruit could not do the same. Ms. Thuy also found that the producers did not know how to exploit their strengths and did not know how to do marketing to introduce products to consumers.

Since then, 3Tfarm has organized a high-quality orange growing area according to VietGap standards with an area of over 40 hectares of oranges with 25 households growing organically, ensuring 3 criteria "good soil, good seed, good heart". Ms. Vu Thi Le Thuy said that the members of the cooperative use vermicompost to fertilize the plants, spray and water the plants with earthworm solution to help the plants have good resistance, increase the ability to flower and set fruit. Households also use fresh corn, soybeans, and fish brewed with organic probiotics to fertilize the plants to help oranges have a natural sweet taste and eye-catching colors.

The cooperative also invested 300 million VND for Cao Phong oranges to have an ozone bath to remove dirt and residual chemicals that are harmful to health. This is the point that makes the difference in the quality of 3Tfarm's cams.

When harvested, the oranges are taken to the preliminary processing and sorting area. Products will be selected very strictly, only about 8-10% of the total orange production is selected and met the standards of color, size and quality for high-end gift products.