Harvesting oranges at the household of Mr. Trieu Van Cau A in Ha Son village.
As one of the first Dao households to leave Pu Quan peak to "go down the mountain" to live, the early days of life of Mr. Trieu Van Cau A and his wife in Ha Son village could not avoid difficulties and hardships. Exploring and learning from experience, in 2018 he decided to renovate the land area for growing xoan trees, switching to growing Lao oranges - an orange variety suitable for the climate conditions and especially not affected by frost. For the orange trees to grow and develop on the sloping hills, he invested more than 300 million VND to hire workers to dig holes, fertilize, and install more than 5km of water pipes from Pu Toong stream to irrigate the plants.
In care, Mr. Cau A only uses organic fertilizers, which enrich the soil, are good for plants, and create safe products. By-products, agricultural waste, waste, and residue from his family's pig farming are collected and composted, or he uses biological products and microorganisms to compost into organic fertilizer for plants. Thanks to that, the cost of buying fertilizers and pesticides is significantly reduced. After 3 years, the orange tree began to bear fruit, traders came to the garden to buy at a price of 25,000 - 30,000 VND/kg, much higher than other crops.
While planting and monitoring to have a direction for expansion, in 2021, Mr. Cau A added Cao Phong orange variety to intercrop on an area of nearly 1 hectare of hill garden. With nearly 300 orange trees that have been harvested and income from selling breeding pigs, his family has an annual income of 200 - 300 million VND. In addition, he also invested in planting 150 green-skinned grapefruit trees and 300 peach trees in Pu Quan village.
Also one of the pioneering Dao households to plant more than 300 Cao Phong orange trees, which have been harvested for 3-4 years, Ms. Trieu Thi Senh in Ha Son village shared: "Thanks to orange trees, my family's life is now much more stable. In addition to growing oranges, my family also raises 6 cows, dozens of pigs, hundreds of poultry of all kinds... bringing in an income of about 150 million VND per year."
Now in Ha Son village, the least number of houses have a few dozen orange trees, the most have a few hundred. The story of earning millions from oranges is no longer strange to the Dao people. Ha Van Luan's family also has nearly 200 orange trees. Before that, his family planted cassava and xoan trees on 4 acres of hilly land but they were not effective. Mr. Luan shared: “The cultivated land area in the village is mainly steep hills and mountains, and there is a scarcity of water resources, so in the past, the crops were all economically inefficient. Learning from the planting and care experiences of households in the village, I bought Cao Phong orange varieties to try planting. This is a type of tree that is more difficult to grow than other types of trees, so I strictly follow the techniques. From choosing seedlings, watering, fertilizing, pruning, cutting fruit to detecting and treating diseases... Orange trees have more pests and diseases than other crops, so I regularly check them to take timely measures as soon as I detect signs of disease. Planted and cared for properly, my family's orange garden has been yielding a harvest for the past 2 years, estimated at about 50 - 60 million VND each year.”
The increasingly prosperous life, both materially and spiritually, has created conditions for the families of Mr. Cau A, Ms. Senh, Mr. Luan in particular, and the Dao people in Ha Son village in general, to take care of their children's education. From a poor village, which only grew corn and cassava all year round, now the working-age population has been basically trained in vocational skills; in 2025, the average income per capita is estimated to reach 50 million VND, and the whole village will have only one poor household. The muddy, slippery roads are now gone, replaced by flat, clean concrete roads...
Party cell secretary and head of Ha Son village, Trieu Van Liu, said: “The orange growing model in Ha Son village has been promoting outstanding economic efficiency, bringing stable income to the people. The village is propagating and mobilizing people to convert an additional 2-3 hectares of ineffective crop area to orange growing. In order for Ha Son oranges to develop and have a firm foothold in the market, orange growers hope for the attention and support of all levels and sectors to build brands, promote products, enhance value and competitiveness, and contribute to the development of the local socio-economy.”
Article and photos: Phan Nga
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/cay-cam-o-ban-nguoi-dao-ha-son-269277.htm
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