Growing tangerines in the mountainous region of Kon Tum, thought it was "crazy", but unexpectedly it turned out to be a big hit.

Mr. Tran Van Thoi (47 years old, Mo Pa village, Dak Ha commune, Tu Mo Rong district, Kon Tum province) boldly converted part of the cassava growing area to grow tangerines and some other fruit trees on the steep mountainous land.

After many years of planting and caring, Mr. Thoi's tangerine garden has yielded unexpected results, serving the local people right on Tet holiday.

Located near the administrative center of Tu Mo Rong district, a few dozen meters walk from National Highway 40B, Mr. Thoi's tangerine garden gradually appeared, surprising me. From afar, tangerine trees with luxuriant dark yellow fruits were planted in straight rows, covering half the hill.

The tangerine garden with suitable soil conditions in Tu Mo Rong brings a stable income for Mr. Thoi's family.

Mr. Thoi said that his family left Nam Dinh province to live in Tu Mo Rong in 2012. With the savings brought from his hometown, Mr. Thoi bought 5 hectares of land from local people to grow cassava and rice for a living. Although the cassava garden still brings in an income of more than 120 million VND each year, Mr. Thoi realized that growing cassava makes the soil increasingly infertile, the income is not high and is not sustainable, so he wanted to try another type of plant in this difficult mountainous area.

Mr. Thoi said that the climate here is very harsh, the land is steep and rocky, so it is very picky about the type of plants grown. After a period of research, Mr. Thoi found that the lemon and grapefruit trees here do not need anyone to take care of them and still bear a lot of fruit, so he thought this land was suitable for citrus trees. And then, Mr. Thoi decided to try growing tangerines.

As the first person to grow tangerines in the commune, Mr. Thoi was quite worried because he had no experience, so he only set aside a part of the land area of nearly 1 hectare to grow fruit trees, the remaining area continued to grow cassava.

First, Mr. Thoi dug holes to plant according to the terraced field model and then fertilized with rice husks and composted cow manure to create looseness and nutrients. When the steps were completed, Mr. Thoi started planting in 2017. After researching, Mr. Thoi went all the way to Tien Giang province to buy seeds, more than 300 tangerine trees (5 sao), 100 jackfruit trees and 50 mango trees. The total initial investment cost was nearly 100 million VND.

Mr. Thoi recalls: "The reason I planted many types of trees at the same time was to test which type of tree was suitable and not worry about the output later. The first year, I bought a type of super micronutrient fertilizer, but after a period of monitoring and research, I realized that this type was not suitable for citrus trees, so I had to choose another type of fertilizer. After that, I tried switching to cow manure and some other types of organic fertilizer and saw that the trees quickly took root and sprouted. I decided to choose sawdust, cow manure, and rice husks to accompany me in the coming time, saving more than half of the investment cost, about 10 million VND/year instead of spending nearly 20 million VND as before."

Many customers are excited to be able to visit and pick their own tangerines to their liking.

By 2019, the orchard began to bear fruit and yielded results beyond expectations. Fearing that the trees would lose their strength, Thoi only selected quality fruits to keep. In the following years, Thoi's orchard was laden with fruit, because it was grown organically, so the quality of each fruit was very guaranteed. The first customers were his neighbors, and everyone was satisfied when enjoying it.

The good news spread far and wide, many people in the district came to buy. On average, each year, Mr. Thoi harvested more than 5 tons of tangerines, after deducting all expenses, he earned a profit of about 100 million VND. The remaining fruit trees did not have the same productivity as tangerines.

In addition to the 1 hectare area that is being tested for fruit trees, Mr. Thoi also has 4 hectares of cassava and licorice growing. Although cassava still brings in a profit of over 100 million VND each year, compared to the area for growing tangerines (5 sao), the cassava growing area is much larger but the profit is not high. Moreover, growing cassava for a long time makes the soil infertile, which is not a long-term, sustainable direction.

Mr. Thoi shared that compared to cassava, growing tangerines gives much higher profits on the same area. The planting and care are also relatively easy, the labor and care costs are not high. No one grows them here so there are very few pests and diseases, the output is also satisfactory, the retail price is 25,000 VND/kg, the wholesale price is 20,000 VND/kg, everyone can go to the garden to pick and choose according to their preferences.

If anyone wants to grow it, I am willing to share my experience. I encourage the Xo Dang people to grow tangerines or citrus trees, because these trees are easy to grow, suitable for the soil and climate here and above all, they bring higher income than growing cassava or rice.

Mr. Thoi's tangerine garden is full of fruit.

Mr. Duong Dang Khoa - Chairman of Dak Ha Commune People's Committee, Tu Mo Rong District (Kon Tum Province) said that Mr. Thoi is a typical farmer in the commune, daring to think and act to find new economic development directions in difficult land. To support the family's output, the commune has introduced many individuals and units in the province to come and buy to support. Mr. Thoi's garden is a model to encourage people to convert ineffective crops to citrus fruit trees.

Source: https://danviet.vn/lieu-trong-quyt-duong-o-vung-nui-rung-kon-tum-tuong-la-ro-dai-ngo-dau-trung-lon-20250124151805294.htm