Difficult lands rise strongly when finding the right direction

Orange tree opens new direction

In recent years, Dong Yen commune has emerged as a large-scale fruit growing area, creating a clear change in people's income and life. From a locality dependent on corn and cassava with low value, Dong Yen has strongly shifted to growing oranges and red-fleshed dragon fruit, forming a commodity production area that brings in income many times higher than before.

Dong Yen commune has emerged as a large-scale fruit production area.

Oranges are the tree that started the economic restructuring process of Dong Yen. Realizing the suitable soil quality, many households have boldly switched from growing corn and cassava to growing fruit trees. Among them, Mr. La Anh Tuan, from Ke Nhan village, is one of the pioneers. Having grown oranges since 2011, Mr. Tuan had to face the worry of "good harvest, low price", but his determination to follow a methodical production direction has helped him build an orange garden of more than 10 hectares.

Mr. Tuan said that growing corn and cassava each year was only enough to cover living expenses. When he tried switching to oranges, he learned the techniques and invested in fertilizers properly. Up to now, the garden's productivity has always been stable, with a net profit of over 300 million VND per year. Thanks to orange trees, Mr. Tuan's family has been able to build a solid house, expand production and gradually save up to reinvest in the garden.

Oranges are the tree that started the economic restructuring process of Dong Yen. In the photo: La Anh Tuan's orange garden.

Not only the predecessors, the young labor force in Dong Yen is also choosing high-quality agriculture to start a business. Truong Van Linh, a young man from Vinh Chung village, is an example of new production thinking. Instead of working far from home as a factory worker, Linh decided to stick with his family's 2-hectare orange garden. He applies organic care methods, limits pesticides and increases organic fertilizers to improve the soil.

Mr. Linh shared that last year, his family's orange garden yielded about 12 tons of fruit. This year, the trees are more mature, expected to yield about 18 tons. With a selling price of 15,000 VND/kg in the garden, the estimated income is nearly 300 million VND. The economic efficiency is many times higher than traditional farming.

Models like Tuan and Linh's show that orange trees have become a key crop, making an important contribution to the economic restructuring of the commune. With stable productivity and a wide consumer market, Dong Yen annually supplies the market with over 8,000 tons of various types of oranges.

Red-fleshed dragon fruit - a breakthrough direction

Along with orange trees, red-fleshed dragon fruit trees are becoming a breakthrough development direction, creating more livelihood options for people in Dong Yen. From the initial small-scale model, dragon fruit trees have now expanded into a concentrated production area of more than 130 hectares.

Red-fleshed dragon fruit is becoming a breakthrough development direction, creating more livelihood options for people in Dong Yen.

Ms. Hoang Thi Hai Hien, Dong Huong village shared that since 2016, when many people were still skeptical about bringing the Southern tree to the Northern mountainous region, Ms. Hien decided to try planting 100 red-fleshed dragon fruit pillars. Seeing that the tree adapted well, she expanded to 1,000 pillars and invested in a lighting system to adjust the season, creating stable output.

According to Ms. Hien, using lights to stimulate plants to flower and bloom out of season helps to increase yields significantly. This year, her family harvested about 30 tons of dragon fruit, earning about 600 million VND. Dragon fruit trees are clearly effective, with a much higher economic value than many other crops.

Dragon fruit and orange trees help solve output problems and create stable income for people in Dong Yen commune.

This effect has created a strong ripple effect in the community. Many households in the village have followed Ms. Hien's model. Mr. Hoang Ngoc Chan, also in Dong Huong village, after a period of field survey, converted the entire area to grow 1,000 dragon fruit pillars. Mr. Chan said that a clump of dragon fruit produces about 20kg of fruit, with prices ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 VND/kg depending on the time. Last crop, his family earned over 100 million VND.

The rapid change in crop structure shows that Dong Yen people have boldly approached technology and are flexible with the market. Dragon fruit and orange trees help solve output problems, create stable income and reduce dependence on traditional low-value crops.

Not only successful at the household level, Dong Yen is also forming cooperatives and cooperatives associated with orange and dragon fruit production following VietGAP and organic standards. Technical support activities, care instructions, and pest control are regularly implemented, helping farmers to be more proactive in production.

According to statistics, Dong Yen commune has more than 517 hectares of oranges and about 132.8 hectares of red dragon fruit. The total annual fruit output reaches more than 10,000 tons. Average income per capita has increased steadily over the years, currently about 55 million VND/person/year. The poverty rate has decreased sharply, from 7.3% in 2020 to 4.2% in 2025.

Vice Chairman of Dong Yen Commune People's Committee Pham Van Minh said that oranges and dragon fruit have been two main crops for many years, helping people escape poverty and creating a foundation for household economic development. However, the process of expanding the area also revealed many risks: Oranges suffered from yellow leaf disease, while dragon fruit suffered from fungal diseases due to the use of untreated manure. Faced with this situation, the commune government did not let people manage on their own but proactively coordinated with the province's specialized agencies to organize training, transfer techniques, guide pruning, canopy shaping, organic farming and limit chemicals. Thanks to the change in thinking from quantity to quality, diseases were gradually controlled, agricultural products' quality improved and products sold at higher prices.

Dong Yen promotes the "4-house" linkage, encourages the establishment of cooperatives, expands raw material areas, guides people to access e-commerce, and promotes OCOP products.

In addition to maintaining two main crops, Dong Yen is diversifying crops to avoid dependence. Bananas were planted on a trial basis on 30 hectares and showed clear economic efficiency, and were identified as a key crop in the next term. The commune has been connecting with businesses to consume products, helping people feel secure in their investments.

Along with production, Dong Yen promotes the connection of "4 houses", encourages the establishment of cooperatives, expands raw material areas and guides people to access e-commerce, and promotes OCOP products. According to Mr. Minh, this is the key direction to help Dong Yen achieve the goal of increasing income to more than 85 million VND/person/year and sustainably reducing poverty in the period 2025 - 2030.

From the successful models of farmers, Dong Yen has entered a new stage of development - a stage where farmers proactively invest, proactively produce, create sustainable income and improve their lives. The strong shift in economic structure not only helps increase income but also opens up opportunities to get rich right in their homeland.

With the stability of the orange and dragon fruit market and the determination of the people, Dong Yen is proving that once-difficult lands can completely rise strongly when finding the right direction.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/vung-dat-kho-khan-vuu-len-manh-me-khi-tim-duoc-huong-di-phu-hop-post1800669.tpo