Hàng trăm ha thanh long ngâm trong nước lũ ở Lâm Đồng | VTV24

Key Concepts:

• Thanh long (Dragon fruit) cultivation
• Flood damage to crops
• Root rot in thanh long plants
• Impact on Tết (Lunar New Year) harvest
• Agricultural damage assessment and support

Flood Impact on Thanh Long Orchards in Lâm Đồng

The transcript details the severe impact of recent floods on thanh long (dragon fruit) orchards in Lâm Đồng province, Vietnam, particularly in areas like Hàm Thắng, Hàm Liêm, and Hồng Sơn. Despite the receding floodwaters, the damage to over 350 thanh long pillars in Bà Lê Thị Lài's orchard is significant, with up to one-third of the pillar stems submerged. This repeated inundation has led to root rot, severely compromising the plants' ability to recover and jeopardizing the crucial Tết (Lunar New Year) harvest.

Specific Cases and Farmer Responses

• Bà Lê Thị Lài's Orchard: Her orchard, with over 350 thanh long pillars, suffered damage to one-third of the stems. She was preparing for the Tết season by "lighting" (a process to induce flowering for Tết) but the floodwaters prevented this, causing the root system to die.
• Bà Huỳnh Thị Kim Thủy's Orchard: In her 200-pillar orchard, the family is actively pumping out water. Following this, they plan to fertilize, amend the soil, and focus on root recovery within the week to help the plants regain strength. The transcript highlights the difficulty of the situation, with one farmer expressing frustration: "It's impossible to dig it all out. After digging it out, we have to rake it. And then rake it again. But now the vines are wilting, how can we fix it?"

Economic and Production Consequences

At this time, thanh long is fetching a good price of over 20,000 VND/kg. However, the flood damage threatens to derail all production plans, from the "lighting" process to the care of fruits for the Tết season. The risk of complete crop loss is high.

Wider Impact and Government Response

The problem is not confined to Hàm Thắng. Hundreds of hectares of thanh long in other communes like Hàm Liêm and Hồng Sơn have also been flooded. Local authorities are urgently guiding residents to report their losses to facilitate support measures.

• Damage Assessment Process: The process involves households reporting their losses to their respective villages (thôn). The villages then consolidate this information and send it to the commune (phường). The commune collects all the data and quantifies the losses. Subsequently, teams are dispatched to conduct on-site surveys to verify the reported damage. This detailed assessment is crucial for providing appropriate assistance.
• Challenges in Assessment: The transcript notes that the thanh long plants are currently very large, making the on-site surveys challenging and requiring careful re-evaluation.

Provincial Statistics and Lingering Concerns

According to statistics for the entire province of Lâm Đồng, over 4,000 hectares of crops have been flooded, with thanh long being the most affected. Even though the floods have passed, the anxiety remains for the farmers whose crops have not yet recovered.

Conclusion

The floods have inflicted significant damage on Lâm Đồng's thanh long industry, impacting farmers' livelihoods and threatening the critical Tết harvest. The repeated inundation has caused root rot, a severe condition that hinders plant recovery. Local authorities are implementing a systematic process for damage assessment and aiming to provide support, but the scale of the problem and the challenges in recovery underscore the vulnerability of agricultural production to extreme weather events. The long-term recovery of these orchards and the economic stability of the farmers remain a significant concern.