As Tet approaches, the specialty orange gardens of Xa Doai - King oranges (Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc district, Nghe An) have ripened and begun to be harvested. However, unlike previous years, the orange gardens have continuously shed large quantities of oranges, making people restless because of the loss of crops.

Mr. Tho said that when the orange garden first bore fruit, it was very beautiful. However, since September, the oranges have started to fall off in large numbers. Many orange trees have lost most of their fruit, but some have only lost a few.

In a short time, Mr. Tho's orange garden has lost nearly half of its oranges. "Currently, there are still more than 4,000 oranges in the garden. However, from now until Tet, the oranges will continue to fall and it is predicted that there will be more than 2,000 oranges left," said Mr. Tho.

At this time last year, many customers came to Xa Doai orange gardens to deposit to buy. However, because of the oranges falling, Mr. Tho did not dare to accept deposits from customers. "An orange costs from 70-80 thousand VND. Customers came to deposit but I did not dare to accept it because I was afraid that by Tet there would be no oranges to deliver to customers," Mr. Tho shared.

In a similar situation, the 35-tree orange garden of Mr. Pham Dinh Khang (60 years old, residing in Nghi Dien commune) in Xa Doai has fallen off in large numbers when the oranges began to grow. Initially, Mr. Khang estimated that the orange garden would yield about 1,000 fruits. However, in the past few months, more than half of the orange garden has fallen off and now there are only about 400 fruits left on the trees.

As one of the largest orange gardens in Nghi Dien commune, Mr. Phan Cong Huong's family grows more than 400 trees for a very large annual harvest. However, this year his family lost their crop. "Never before have there been so many oranges falling. Some trees have lost more than half of their fruit, some have lost up to 90% of their fruit. This year I do not accept deposits from customers to buy oranges because I am afraid that by Tet there will be no more oranges left," Mr. Huong said.

According to Mr. Huong, it is normal for oranges to lose fruit every year. However, the quantity is not much and this phenomenon usually only occurs in years of heavy rain and flooding, causing the orange trees to be waterlogged. "This is the first time an orange garden has lost fruit en masse, but the cause is unknown. Meanwhile, the orange trees are still green and healthy, without pests or diseases. Many experts have come to examine and suspect it is due to frost," said Mr. Phan Cong Huong.

The oranges are on the tree but there are many signs of rot at the stem.

Spoiled oranges will be collected by households to make fertilizer instead of using fertilizers on the market.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thiet - an agricultural officer of Nghi Dien commune said that the whole commune currently grows about 30 hectares of Xa Doai oranges. Of which, 20 hectares are in 2 large orange farms, the remaining 10 hectares are scattered in the home gardens of 50 households. This year, a large number of oranges have fallen, so the output in the commune has decreased sharply.

Many garden owners lost money this Tet holiday.