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| In the prolonged hot weather conditions, many areasindustrial teaIn Thanh Thuy, Thanh An, Thanh Duc communes... the plants have been scorched, dried up, and discolored due to lack of water. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| According to local people, prolonged strong sunlight combined with hot, dry Lao winds has caused many areas to be burned.teaquickly withered, yellow leaves. In the photo: A hill of scorched tea leaves of households in Ngoc Lam Tea Enterprise, Thanh Thuy commune. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Learning from previous years, these dayshotRecently, many tea-growing households in Thanh Chuong district have actively used generators and motors to draw water from lakes, dams, ponds, and wells around tea-growing areas to move up the hills to save the tea. Mr. Tran Van Lien (64 years old) in An Phong hamlet, Thanh An commune said: His family grows more than 1 hectare of tea, many of which are on high hills, so they must have irrigation machines or the tea will die from drought. He and his wife bought the irrigation machine and pipes for 32 million VND. In the past few days, he has been watering continuously day and night, spending an average of about 350,000 VND per day on gasoline. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| No water pump or a broken one in the middle of these hot days is a worry for tea growers. Mr. Nguyen Canh Loc in Thanh An commune said: A broken water pump must be repaired immediately, whether at night or at noon, because of the drought, watering the tea needs to be done urgently, as soon as possible. |
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| During the hot days in the tea growing areas of Thanh Chuong district, watering tea is the most concerned issue for people. Currently, the irrigation system has been widely used by people. Mr. Tran Van Thinh in Thanh An commune said that his family grows 1.4 hectares of industrial tea, bought a large capacity irrigation machine, watering once every 3 days. According to Mr. Thinh, watering tea more often is better, but it is quite expensive, the price of oil has increased (from 360,000 VND/can last year to 500,000 VND/can) while tea buds have decreased to only about 2,000 VND/kg. "Although it is expensive, we still have to water to save the tea, maintain the existing tea area, otherwise replanting will be more expensive and time-consuming" - Mr. Thinh said. Photo: Huy Thu |
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Many families have to buy 200 - 400m of 5cm diameter pipes to transport water from ponds and lakes up the hill. The pipes are fixed in the middle of the tea hill, and each time they water, people calculate the time to move the nozzle. Photo: Huy Thu
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| Mr. Dau Dinh Thanh (58 years old) in Thanh Mai commune said: "My family grows 1.5 hectares of tea and has been harvesting for many years. To fight the drought and save the tea, I hired an excavator to dig two large ponds, each pond has an area of 150 - 200 m2.2, 2-3m deep near the tea gardens. With a water pump and a 270m long pipe system for continuous watering day and night". Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Many tea-growing households have the means to buy irrigation machines but are not near lakes or dams with water, so they are facing difficulties. On the contrary, many households near lakes and dams but do not have the means to buy equipment, so they have to watch the tea wither and wait for the rain. Ms. Ha Thi Huyen in Thuong Lam hamlet, Thanh An commune shared: Her family is in a difficult situation, her husband passed away, she alone raises 2 small children, and grows 0.6 hectares of tea. Although the tea garden is near Cau Cau lake, she cannot buy irrigation machines, so in this sunny weather, the tea has withered a lot, dying in clumps in the middle of the garden. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| According to tea growers in communes in Thanh Chuong district, watering tea during these hot days can be done in the morning, afternoon, and night, but it is better to concentrate on watering in the late afternoon and night, because watering in the morning can easily lead to water loss due to the intense midday sun. Watering in the evening requires losing sleep to watch and move the nozzle. Currently, some ponds and wells in the area have dried up, if the weather continues to be hot in the coming days, the water source for watering tea will be difficult. Tea growers in Thanh Chuong district are waiting for heavy rains. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| With 4,500 hectares of industrial tea in Thanh Chuong district, the fact that people actively buy water pumps, dig ponds, and dig wells to water the tea during the long hot days is one of the effective and practical measures to save the tea. Thanks to the efforts and hard work of the people along with the widespread development of the sprinkler irrigation system, many tea areas have been saved, many tea gardens and tea hills in high positions have avoided the danger of standing dead in the drought. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Watering to save tea in Thanh Chuong district. Video. Huy Thu |
