The sour taste of Luc Ngan District’s sweet success
The sour taste of Luc Ngan District’s sweet success
Farmers in Luc Ngan District in the mountainous province of Bac Giang enjoyed a bumper crop of citrus fruit, generating good incomes and boosting the region’s growing reputation as the fruit cradle of Vietnam.
Tourists visit an orange and grapefruit growing area in Luc Ngan District |
Fruit tree diversity
Thanks to favorable climate and soil, and efforts put into research, investment and development of high-tech agriculture, Bac Giang Province in general and Luc Ngan District in particular now boast many typical and famous fruits such as lychees, oranges, grapefruits, guavas, and apples.
According to the People's Committee of Luc Ngan, the district is currently home to 28,000ha of fruit trees of all kinds. That includes 15,450ha of lychees, an increase of 160ha compared to 2020, with output of more than 144,826 tonnes from which 12,500ha are grown under VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, an increase of 710ha compared to 2020.
Citrus trees in Luc Ngan District yield extensive, high-quality fruit |
District People's Committee Chair La Van Nam said that in addition to lychee fruit, which have become a well-known brand firmly positioned in domestic and foreign markets, its oranges, pomelos and other fruits have been granted a collective trademark. The district is continuing to coordinate with the provincial Department of Science and Technology and the National Office of Intellectual Property to complete procedures for issuing local guavas, longans, goats and horses with geographical indications.
The district's total income from fruit trees this year is estimated at more than VND3.3 trillion, accounting for about 70 percent of the agro-forestry production value, raising the district's agricultural production value to an average of more than VND130 million per hectare. Luc Ngan fruits have been exported to many high-end markets like Europe, the US and Japan.
Promoting citrus through tourism
In order to bring its specialty agricultural products to more consumers, Luc Ngan District has organized programs to promote trade, brand development, and consumption of fruits and specialties of the district, particularly a fair of orange, grapefruit and typical products which created a spillover effect and improved the sales of local typical products.
Bac Giang Province’s orientation is to develop agriculture associated with tourism and culture. Accordingly, Luc Ngan District has launched an experimental tourism program for the orange and pomelo season. By 2025, the district will focus on two groups of advantageous tourism products: eco-tourism, resort and entertainment tourism and cultural-spiritual tourism, developing eco-tourism spaces and communities in the Luc Ngan key fruit growing area. It strives to attract about one million visitors, earn about VND100 billion in revenue from tourism services, create from 300 to 500 jobs with all employees trained in basic skills related to management, communication and promotion of tourism activities.
Luc Ngan District’s Fruit Festival has made a big splash |
In the immediate future, tourist attractions will be geared towards communes with cooperatives already engaged in tourism operations, like those in Tan Quang, Hong Giang, Tru Huu, Quy Son, My An, and Tan Moc. The cooperatives will develop tourism products, choose households with beautiful gardens and convenient transportation and friendly hosts who have favorable conditions to welcome tourists. They will also sign commitments with garden owners to provide professional services for tourism programs at the district’s request.
Village management boards, youth unions, women's unions, and farmers' unions will lead contacts with travel agencies and organize activities to serve tourists. Economic experts believe this is a new and promising direction for the development of the charming mountainous region.
