Farmers in Anh Son save their tea plants after the rain.

(Baonghean.vn) - Following a period of intense heat, heavy rains have fallen across a wide area of ​​Anh Son district in recent days. These much-needed rains have helped prevent hundreds of hectares of tea plants from dying due to drought, and have also replenished irrigation water, helping many areas of damaged tea plants to recover and turn green again.

After the rain, we arrived at the tea hills of Team 29, Long Son Commune, Anh Son District. Some hills were already lush green, while others had only just begun to sprout.

Mr. Nguyen Nhu Lien from Tea Team 29, Long Son, takes care of the tea plants.

The family of Mr. Nguyen Nhu Lien in Team 29, Long Son Commune, Anh Son District, owns more than 1 hectare of industrial tea plantation. The recent heatwave caused more than half of their tea plants to die, and the remaining plants suffered severe leaf burn. The estimated damage is 60-70 million VND. Thanks to the prolonged rains in recent days, the family's tea plantation has been partially saved. After the rain, new tea shoots have begun to sprout, replacing the blackened branches that were recently burned.

Large tea plantations were saved after the heavy rains.

Mr. Lien shared, "These precious rains are invaluable, but if the rain had come about half a month earlier, we could have saved more tea plantations." He also added: "To care for the burnt tea plants, my family has prepared 6 tons of fertilizer. We'll apply it in a few days when the soil dries out to help the tea plants recover quickly."

However, the rain did not restore the green color to all tea plantations. Nguyen Thi Lieu's family in Team 29, Long Son commune, has 0.5 hectares of tea plantation, but only a few plants managed to withstand the prolonged drought.

However, many tea plantations cannot recover due to the severe damage.

Ms. Lieu sadly said, "The heavy rain was bad, but because the tea plants have already died, they can't recover. This year's tea crop is a total loss for my family. Losing our source of income, I don't know where we'll get the money to replant. Meanwhile, planting tea requires money for seedlings, fertilizer, and even labor for digging trenches. And it will take three years, if there's no drought, for that tea plantation to yield a harvest."

Mr. Nguyen Cong The, Head of the Agriculture Department of Anh Son District, said: During the recent drought, 300 hectares of tea plants died, mainly newly planted tea areas from 2013 and 2014. The area of ​​commercially grown tea affected was 1,500 hectares. Immediately after the rain, Anh Son District directed the district's agriculture department to inspect the actual situation in the tea-growing areas, instructing people to focus on caring for the plants, applying nitrogen fertilizer, and restoring the damaged tea areas. For the areas where the tea plants died, people were guided to continue replanting to ensure the availability of raw materials in the district.

Heavy rains have helped to cool down many tea plantations in Anh Son district; however, a large area of ​​tea plants has died due to the drought. People in Anh Son hope that the authorities at all levels will provide support mechanisms to help them replant the tea plants that died after the drought.

Huyen Trang

Anh Son Radio