Orange season, season of hope

At the end of the year, when the northeast monsoon arrives, the high mountains of Sang Moc commune, on the slopes of Khuoi Meo mountain, suddenly burst into a different color. Amidst the gray of the mountain rocks, the fog, and the patches of forest, ripe oranges, heavy with fruit, warm the atmosphere and the hearts of the people. Here, the orange season is a season of hope, of the quiet but enduring change of the Mong people who migrated here after 1975.

Mr. Vuong Van Ti's family is harvesting oranges.

The orange tree is branching out and turning green.

Sang Moc is a highland commune located nearly 60km from the provincial center, with a predominantly limestone mountainous terrain and limited arable land. Khuoi Meo has 118 households and over 600 inhabitants, almost all of whom are Mong ethnic people.

The story of Khuoi Meo begins in the years when the land was uncooperative, the fields were barren, and growing corn and rice on the slopes yielded low productivity. The weather was unpredictable, with some harvests succeeding and others failing, making an already difficult life even harder.

At one point, the entire village faced famine for two to three months each year. There wasn't enough rice, and many families had to subsist on cornmeal porridge; poverty was a persistent problem.

With support in terms of seeds, preferential loans from the State, and technical advice from agricultural officials, a new direction has opened up. Some households boldly switched to and experimented with growing oranges on sloping land. The first orange trees were planted in 2016, initially by only a few households as a "trial planting".

"One crop after another, year after year," the orange trees took root, grew green, and bore fruit. To date, the hamlet has about 30 households growing oranges on an area of ​​more than 10 hectares. According to Hamlet Head Vuong Phuc Dinh, some households have more than 1 hectare of orange trees, while others have at least half a hectare. While planting, the people also proactively learned new techniques.

Besides attending training courses, villagers go to large orange-growing areas to learn about cultivation and pest control; many households also learn on their own through social media. They have introduced varieties of oranges like the Sành and Vinh oranges, which produce fragrant and sweet fruit. During the harvest season, traders come directly to the orchards. “Some people buy the whole orchard at a rate of about 10,000 VND/kg. After buying, they harvest the fruit themselves; we don’t have to do anything. Selling retail fetches a better price, from 15,000 to 20,000 VND/kg, depending on quality,” said village head Vương Phúc Đình.

In the final days of the year, a stroll around Khuoi Meo reveals conversations about oranges everywhere you go. "The oranges are so beautiful this year, they'll surely fetch a good price," "My family has started harvesting oranges," "How many tens of millions of dong did your family earn this season?" Oranges have become a key word in the daily conversations of the locals.

In the more than one-hectare orchard of Mr. Vuong Van Ti's family, the orange trees are laden with fruit, their branches bending down, golden oranges clustered beneath the green foliage. The harvest atmosphere is bustling from early morning. Mr. Ti's entire family takes advantage of the favorable weather to cut oranges, select the ripest ones, and pack them into boxes for delivery to traders.

Few would have imagined that, more than a decade ago, this plot of land was barren, where buffalo and cattle roamed freely to graze. However, in recent years, livestock farming hasn't been as profitable as before. "If it weren't for the oranges, we'd probably still be poor," said Mr. Vuong Van Ti.

In the recent harvest, Mr. Vuong Van Ti's family harvested about 15 tons of oranges. After deducting fertilizer costs, they earned over 160 million VND. "The labor was done by our family, so we don't count it. This year the oranges are more abundant, so we'll probably harvest even more," said Mr. Vuong Van Ti excitedly.

According to Mr. Vuong Van Ti, growing oranges is not easy at all. Those who haven't grown them don't know. At the beginning of the year, when the trees sprout new leaves, there are many pests, so you have to spray biological pesticides, combined with pesticides to promote flowering and fruit setting. Fertilizer is applied twice a year, in January and June. By June, when the fruit is about the size of a chicken egg, you hardly need to spray anymore.

Mr. Vuong Van Ti learned his orange cultivation techniques from various sources: training courses and field trips. “I learned from others which pesticides were good and how to use them. Some I even ordered directly from Hanoi, ” Mr. Vuong Van Ti recounted. Each season, the cost of fertilizers and pesticides is around 40 million VND. In return, his orchard yields an abundance of fruit, more than he can sell. “Near Tet (Lunar New Year), from the 24th to the 29th, customers flock here like a marketplace. I can’t harvest fast enough; I’m out in the orchard all day,” Mr. Vuong Van Ti added.

Opening a path out of poverty

Village head Vuong Phuc Dinh stands beside a villager's orange orchard.

According to village statistics, in 2016, the first year the oranges yielded a harvest, Khuoi Meo lifted two households out of poverty. In subsequent years, the number of poor households gradually decreased. Previously, the village had 70-80 poor households, but by the end of 2025, after a review, only about 66 remained. That number is still high, but for a highland village with limited land and difficult conditions, it represents a significant transformation. Oranges have helped many households achieve stable incomes, giving them opportunities to invest in forestry, livestock farming, and their children's education.

“If we want to improve our economy , we can only do it by growing oranges,” said village head Vuong Phuc Dinh. “Livestock farming requires high capital, carries high risks, and disease outbreaks can lead to total losses. Forestry takes 5-6 years to harvest. With limited arable land, the villagers can only rely on orange trees.” Besides providing income, oranges have also changed the villagers' production mindset. From subsistence farming, they have become accustomed to calculating costs, market trends, and selling prices. Many households have learned to utilize social media to promote their products and connect with traders.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Huu, a specialist in the Economic Department of Sang Moc commune, the local government has identified oranges as one of its key crops. The commune has promoted orange products through trade promotion programs, fairs, and festivals organized by the province. In addition, the commune has developed a plan to develop orange cultivation models based on household groups, cooperatives, and associations; aiming to apply VietGAP standards and eventually establish specialized orange growing areas on suitable land.

Transportation infrastructure has received significant investment, facilitating the transport of goods. Banks are coordinating to support people in obtaining loans for production development. Local officials and civil servants are also actively promoting oranges on social media platforms.

As evening falls over Khuoi Meo, sunlight bathes the slopes of the vibrant yellow orange groves. The sweet fragrance of ripe oranges mingles with the mountain breeze. Amidst the highland chill, the orange orchards seem to retain warmth for the village. For the people of Khuoi Meo, oranges are more than just crops. They represent the culmination of a long journey, from chronic hunger to the hope of escaping poverty... "Necessity is the mother of invention," and the "ingenuity" of the Hmong people in this village lies in clinging to the land, the forest, and the orange trees to provide food for their homeland.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202512/mua-cammua-hy-vong-1e55839/