Nghe An: Hot weather, green vegetables in short supply, greenhouse vegetables expensive

Due to drought and lack of irrigation water, many vegetable growing areas in Nghi Loc are leaving their areas fallow. Others have switched to growing watermelons. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Prolonged hot weather, lack of proactive irrigation water, so vegetable growing areas in Nghe An are all dry, vegetables leaves are yellow and burnt, many types of vegetables that cannot withstand the heat die in the fields. In many areas, only Malabar spinach, water spinach, amaranth, Malabar spinach and vegetables such as bitter melon, squash, and pumpkin are still harvested but not much.

In Nghi Long (Nghi Loc), if the winter weather is favorable, the vegetable area of ​​the whole commune can reach hundreds of hectares, but this season, due to the prolonged heat, most of the vegetable growing area has been switched to growing melons such as cucumbers, cantaloupes, watermelons, etc. Currently, the vegetable-growing hamlets such as hamlets 13, hamlets 5, and 6 in the fields are also "empty of vegetables".

Due to severe drought, the area of ​​vegetables grown using traditional methods in Quynh Luu burned down, not enough supply for the market. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In Quynh Luu district, due to the prolonged heat wave in recent times, many areas of tomatoes, vegetables, and even spring onions - the most drought-resistant plants in this "vegetable granary" - have dried up. Mr. Ho Dien Vy, Director of Quynh Minh Agricultural Cooperative, said: "It is difficult to care for, vegetables grow poorly, and irrigation costs have increased, so vegetable prices have increased (about 30% higher than before), but still not enough to supply the market."

While vegetables in the fields are dying due to drought, greenhouses in Nghi Lien (Vinh City) and Nam Anh (Nam Dan) are still regularly supplying a certain amount of vegetables to the market. Although it is the peak of the heat, dozens of farming households in Nghi Lien are still growing vegetables and supplying the market with hundreds of kilograms of vegetables every day.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quang - Chairman of Nghi Lien Commune Farmers' Association said: The commune has a vegetable growing area in hamlets 2 and 3 with an area of ​​nearly 20 hectares, while other places, during the drought season, cannot produce vegetables, Nghi Lien can still maintain it. That is thanks to the commune investing in a system of wells drilled at the foot of the fields; people invest in concrete piles, sunshade nets, and the structure of drought-resistant vegetables such as: Malabar spinach, amaranth, squash, etc.

Vegetables grown in greenhouses are less affected by hot and dry weather, grow well and are sold at high prices. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In particular, greenhouses with an area of ​​over 7,000m²Cooperatives in the area have invested in growing vegetables using organic methods, hydroponics, and growing media, and are still selling them regularly to the market. The price of vegetables sold to the market is 3-4 times higher than that of winter vegetables, bringing in an income of 400 million VND/ha/year.

Thanks to hydroponics and drip irrigation, the area of ​​more than 3,000m²In a greenhouse, Mr. Nguyen Kim Nam (Hamlet 3, Nam Anh, Nam Dan) still has vegetables to supply to the market every day, bringing in a stable source of income. He said: "Taking care of summer vegetables takes effort, costs also increase, but in return, they are easy to consume, the price is higher, so growers make a profit."

According to a survey, at the current traditional markets, the price of green vegetables has doubled or tripled compared to before. The main vegetables in the markets are still vegetables from the Northern provinces or Da Lat, Chinese vegetables, while "domestic" vegetables are quite scarce, greenhouses mainly import for schools, supermarkets, and clean food stores according to previously signed contracts. Some types of vegetables such as squash, pumpkin, asparagus, water spinach, jute, amaranth, Malabar spinach... have increased in price by 50-70% compared to the beginning of the season.

According to statistics from the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, the whole province has about 34,000 hectares of various vegetable crops, mainly concentrated in the delta districts of Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Do Luong, Thanh Chuong and Vinh City. Every year, vegetable output in these areas accounts for more than 80% of the province's vegetable output. However, in the dry season, production and care are difficult, so most of the vegetable growing area is converted to growing melons, the area decreases, the output decreases, so vegetables are scarce and prices increase (3-5 times higher) compared to the Winter-Spring crop.