Mr. Le Van Phan, residing at Hamlet No. 3, Tru Van Tho Commune of Ben Cat District succeeded in getting rich by planting mandarin. He was honored as a model farmer of the year in 2011. Mr. Le Van Phan is having a look on his mandarin orchard in Loc Ninh, Binh Phuoc Province Mr. Le Van Phan arrived at the land of Ben Cat in 1998 after leaving his hometown in Long An Province, leaving behind the properous sugar cane processing – the major business of his grand family. He bought 4 hectares of land to plant a lot of crops before ending up in planting mandarin in 2004. He earned big from high yield of mandarin and expanded his plantation to extra 13 hectares in Loc Ninh, Binh Phuoc Province. His success was thanks to efforts and learning knowledge. At his 62, Mr. Le Van Phan is suffering from rheumarthritis but still working every day. He is a real agricultural engineer to his orchard when telling us planting techniques and pros and cons of planting conditions. He said that planting would be easier that nurturing because fertilizer would determine the fruit quality. He also noted that soil preparation should be taken into thorough consideration by stuffing roots to 20-30 cm high to prevent flooding that could kill the roots. And mal-nutrition should be killer to the orchard, he said. So as to support others in planting mandarin, Mr. Phan opened his department store offering agricultural materials with free tips for crops. Reported by Cao Son – Translated by Vi Bao