Sop Cop focuses on caring for fruit trees.

The entire Sop Cop district has over 1,800 hectares of fruit trees. At this time, farmers are focusing on tending to their crops, ensuring high yields and product quality, aiming for a bountiful harvest.

The family of Mr. Tong Van Quoc, in Phong village, Nam Lanh commune, has an orange orchard of over 1 hectare, with trees over 5 years old, that has yielded 6 tons of fruit for the past two years. Mr. Quoc said: "Currently, the orange trees are in the young fruit stage, so my family is focusing on pruning branches, tilling the soil around the base, and fertilizing. Pests and diseases can appear at any time, so I am always present in the orchard to check and treat them to prevent them from affecting the trees' development. Hopefully, with favorable weather, this year's orange harvest will yield a higher harvest than last year."

Farmers in Phong village, Nam Lanh commune, Sop Cop district, are tending to citrus fruit trees.

Nam Lanh commune has 144 hectares of various fruit trees, mainly oranges, pomelos, longan, and grafted mangoes, with an annual yield of nearly 340 tons. Every year, the commune encourages farmers to improve hilly and garden land for fruit tree cultivation; facilitates households' participation in training courses on advanced techniques; applies advanced planting and care techniques according to VietGAP standards; and introduces new, high-yield, high-quality varieties into production. Since the beginning of May, the commune has coordinated with the District Agricultural Service Center to support farmers with technical assistance in caring for fruit trees during the fruiting period; and educates farmers on pest and disease control to achieve high yields and quality harvests.

With over 30 hectares of grafted oranges, tangerines, and mangoes, the products of Toan Duyen Agricultural Cooperative in Sop Cop commune have been certified to meet VietGAP standards, with an average harvest of 75 tons of fruit per year. Mr. Tong Van Toan, Director of the Cooperative, said: "At this time, to avoid rapid water loss during hot weather and reduce weeding labor, the Cooperative has used tarpaulin covers to protect the base of the trees and provided technical advice to farmers on planting and caring for fruit trees using organic methods to improve product quality. This year, the Cooperative aims for a yield 10-15% higher than last year."

Farmers in Hua Muong village, Sop Cop commune, are tending to their fruit trees.

According to the plan for 2030, Sop Cop district aims to plant approximately 3,500 hectares of fruit trees, concentrated in the communes of Muong Va, Muong Lan, Dom Cang, Sop Cop, Nam Lanh, and Pung Banh. The main fruit crops include mangoes, longan, oranges, tangerines, pineapples, plums, pomelos, and other temperate fruit trees.

To achieve this goal, the district has intensified propaganda, mobilization, and guidance for the people to apply advanced breeding techniques, cultivation methods, water-saving irrigation, flowering treatment techniques, and mechanization in production. It has also strengthened the application of organic production processes; and applied grafting, pruning, and canopy shaping techniques. Since the beginning of the year, the District Agricultural Services Center has organized 8 training courses for 560 farmers on cultivation techniques and pest and disease control for fruit trees.

From 2020 to the present, the district has implemented 15 models and projects to replicate fruit tree development models on 186 hectares, with 458 households receiving support including over 250,000 seedlings of various types, over 152 tons of fertilizer, and 4 water-saving irrigation systems. According to assessments, the fruit tree development models have been generally effective, with many newly planted areas yielding stable harvests and generating income, improving land use efficiency compared to other crops. The implementation of these models and projects has also contributed to increasing the fruit tree area from nearly 600 hectares in 2020 to over 1,800 hectares in 2025, with a production of over 3,000 tons; of which, 51 hectares meet VietGAP standards, and 10 hectares have been granted planting area codes.

Mr. Tong Van Cuong, Director of the Sop Cop District Agricultural Service Center, said: The Center advises people to strictly follow safe production processes, use only fertilizers and pesticides on the permitted list; control anthracnose disease in grafted mangoes and stem borers in old citrus fruit trees. For citrus fruit trees, when young fruits reach a diameter of 1 cm or more, it is necessary to thin out the number of fruits on the tree to match the tree's age, removing bad fruits. For grafted mangoes, longan, and other fruit trees, after fruit set for 3-4 weeks, it is necessary to fertilize and bag the fruits with specialized bags to prevent fruit flies, fungi, and diseases.

With proactive care of fruit trees, timely application of science and technology in production by farmers, and the support of specialized agencies, it is believed that this year's fruit harvest in Sop Cop district will achieve high yields, create quality products, and contribute to increasing people's income.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/kinh-te/sop-cop-tap-trung-cham-care-cay-an-qua-nlcs89LNg.html