Many ways to fight drought for 'million dollar' trees in the hot sun in Nghe An

Pumping water directly onto the orange roots to combat drought is the most popular method currently used by orange growers in Quy Hop. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Since the beginning of June, for more than a month, Nghe An has had continuous hot weather, which means that crops have been severely affected, including orange trees. If well cared for, oranges can bring in millions of dollars in revenue, so orange growers are trying to fight the drought by all means.

Mr. Bui Van Than, the owner of an orange grower in Tho Thanh hamlet, Minh Hop commune (Quy Hop), said that his family has 2 hectares of oranges that are 4 years old. To prevent drought for the oranges, Mr. Than invested in a Dong Phong generator, placed on the bank of Lin stream, about 30m from the orange garden. Every afternoon, for the past month, when the sun is gone, he goes out to the garden to water each orange tree.

Growing cantaloupe in orange gardens brings double benefits during the hot season for some households in Quy Hop. Photo: Xuan Hoang

For Mr. Nguyen Van Hau in Minh Hop commune, there is a way to prevent drought for oranges that brings double efficiency. That is, on an area of ​​1 hectare of oranges, he intercrops cantaloupe between 2 rows of oranges. In the melon beds, Mr. Hau lines tarps, punches holes, and pumps water in fully every day, the water gradually seeps into the ground, the humidity is high, so the orange garden does not wither, after 3 months the cantaloupe is ready to harvest.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien's family in Minh Hop commune has 2.7 hectares of oranges, which have been invested in installing a drip irrigation system. Ms. Lien said that by using rolling irrigation, watering once every 4 days for a period of 24 hours, the water seeps deep into the ground, and the oranges grow well on hot days.

According to Mr. Quan Vi Giang - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quy Hop district, Quy Hop currently has more than 2,000 hectares of oranges. During the continuous hot days of June and early July, Quy Hop orange growers tried every way to prevent drought for their orange gardens. The most common way is to pump water from streams and wells and drill wells in the orange gardens. However, due to the depletion of water sources from streams, ponds and lakes, many orange gardens are not fully irrigated.

The most effective way to combat drought for oranges is still drip irrigation technology, which saves water, creates high humidity and does not cause much work for people. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Of the more than 2,000 hectares of oranges, about 1,500 hectares are wilted, while about 500 hectares are due to households that have the conditions to invest in drip irrigation technology and drill wells to get water for irrigation on site, so the level of wilting is less.

In Tan Ky district, garden owners are struggling to fight drought for their orange trees. The hot weather of the past few days has affected the entire 200ha of local orange trees, causing the leaves to wither. However, to save the orange trees from drying out, people have used every means to pump water to irrigate the orange trees.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Trung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tan Ky district said that in addition to 70 hectares of oranges invested in drip irrigation technology to ensure that orange trees are not affected, the remaining 130 hectares of oranges, people have to pump water from streams, wells to irrigate the oranges. Oranges are a crop with high economic value, so orange growers accept to invest in irrigation, saving orange trees in the hot sun./.