Dong Thap (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province ofDong Thap has approved a project to preserve the specialty pink mandarin of itsLai Vung district, which is facing a threat of dying out, over the next fiveyears.

The 73 billion VND (3.1 million USD) involves growing thefruit on a total area of 546.63ha in the communes of Long Hau, Tan Phuoc, TanThanh, and Hoa Long.

The Lai Vung pink mandarin has only one harvest a year -just before Tet (Lunar New Year) - and is one of the favourite fruits duringthe festival because of its beautiful colour, thin skin and sweet and uniqueflavour the fact it has few seeds.

It was first grown in the district 50 years ago, with farmersinitially planting seeds and later switching to air layering.

The fruit grown in Lai Vung is sweeter than elsewhere becauseof its unique soil, but in recent years a large number of trees contracted dryroot rot disease and died.

The district has around 800ha under the fruit, 300ha lessthan in 2015, according to its Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of this, trees on 782.6ha have the disease.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, deputy chairman of the province People’sCommittee, said the project would focus on zoning, using science technologies,training, advocacy, mechanism, farming techniques, seedling production, andusing organic fertilisers.

The district plans to treat trees on 198.7ha as they arestill growing well despite contracting the disease. 

It will help plant trees on 347.92ha in the next three years,providing farmers with inputs for the first two years. 

Farmers will be encouraged to use organic fertilisers madefrom rice straw and animal manure and added with trichoderma fungi to treat thedry root rot disease.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment and Can Tho University have successfully trialled treatment of thedisease since last year.

They teach farmers how to balance the use of chemical andorganic fertilisers, prune disease-affected branches and roots and usebio-products to treat the disease.

Treated trees have recovered 80 – 90 percent, according tothe department’s Plant Cultivation Sub-department.

Nguyen Van Day, one of the participating farmers in Long Hau Commune,uses rice straw and cow manure to make organic fertilisers to fertilise hismandarin trees and prevent inundation.

His trees have recovered 90 percent and begun to bear fruitagain, he said.

With guidance from agricultural officials, he uses organicfertilisers and this makes the soil spongy and helps cut costs by 40 percent,he said.

Tran Thanh Tam of the sub-department said after learningabout the pilot models, farmers balance the use of chemical and organicfertilisers to stabilise the soil texture, make the soil fertile and spongy andenable the growth of useful microorganisms.

Not using a lot of chemical fertilisers unlike in the pastalso helps farmers reduce costs, he said.

Pink mandarins fetch an average price of 30,000 VND (1.3 USD)a kilogramme at the farm and a mature tree can produce 500kg annually.

Many pink mandarin orchards in Lai Vung also offer tourismservices to visitors before Tet, taking advantage of the fact that the ripepink fruits look beautiful./.