THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF ORANGE CULTIVATION AND ITS CHALLENGES TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL HOUSEHOLDS IN TUYEN QUANG PROVINCE, VIETNAM

This paper focuses on the orange cultivation of farm holders to analyze their production costs to understand which challenges and issues they should face getting higher profits. The analysis results reveal that from 2014 to 2018 the orange cultivation areas and production in Tuyen Quang
Province increase 1.58 and 1.83 times, respectively. Its average yield gets 22.02 tonnes/ha/year. This cultivation brings a surplus profit to farm holders. Results of the economic analysis also show that fertilizer, pesticide, and outsourced labor costs count the most in the total orange production (27%, 27%, and 40%, respectively). The study suggests that the farm’s holders should think about cost optimization toward sustainable development by using more organic fertilizer and integrated pest management as well as reducing the outsourced labor cost by mechanizing harvesting. Locality government also should take necessary solutions to improve the knowledge of orange farm holders to the organic cultivation technique.