Severe heat, vegetables in Nghe An dry and burnt

Due to hot weather, many vegetable areas are dry and underdeveloped. Photo by Viet Hung

Quynh Luu is the province’s largest vegetable growing area with nearly 1,000 hectares supplying the market with dozens of tons every day. Due to the hot weather, vegetables have not developed well, so the harvest in recent days has decreased significantly.

In the coastal area of ​​Quynh Luu, in the summer, people mainly grow green onions to cope with the heat because this plant is more drought-resistant than other vegetables. However, the recent heat wave also caused many areas of green onions to wither.

The intense heat has caused the spring onions to wither severely. Photo by Viet Hung

At the vegetable field in hamlet 7, Quynh Minh commune (Quynh Luu), Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam, a vegetable grower, said that the land in this field is high so there is not enough water for irrigation, many vegetable areas have dried up.

Many tomato fields that had previously been flooded by rain and had not yet recovered were now hit by the intense heat, leaving farmers unable to react and the tomatoes withered. Quynh Minh estimated that about 30 hectares of various vegetables had been damaged.

Many tomato areas are gradually withering. Photo by Viet Hung

To prevent drought for vegetables, people in Quynh Minh commune hired workers to dig more wells in their fields to have water for irrigation. Mr. Ho Van Tinh in Quynh Minh commune said that digging the well cost more than 10 million VND, but his family still accepted the expense to have water for irrigation for vegetables, otherwise it would be difficult to grow vegetables this season.

At the vegetable fields in Quynh Luong commune, the automatic sprinkler system is operating at full capacity these days. About 95% of households in the commune have invested in installing automatic sprinklers at a cost of tens of millions of VND per well.

To prevent drought for vegetables, people hired workers to dig more wells in the fields to have water for irrigation; some households invested in shade nets. Photo: Viet Hung

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong in Quynh Luong commune (Quynh Luu) said that if the severe drought continues, the water from the well will not be enough to irrigate the vegetables. Her family had to drill 4 holes and install new water pipes to basically have enough water. On hot sunny days, the family has to water 5-6 times to create moisture for the soil.

In addition to watering, households also regularly check the fields to add NPK fertilizer and foliar fertilizer to the plants. Foliar fertilizer is absorbed quickly and should be sprayed in the afternoon. Some other households invest in shade nets - an effective solution to limit the drying and burning of vegetables, especially in areas lacking irrigation water.