Farmers in Thanh Chuong district create 'giant' tanks to wait for rain

Dig a pond to store water and wait for rain.

Mrs. Bui Thi Thuy's family in Tong Doi hamlet, Thanh Duc commune (Thanh Chuong) has 2 hectares of tea, most of which is newly planted tea 5-7 years ago. The prolonged heat has caused the leaves of her family's entire tea area to burn, and many areas have dried branches.

“During the drought in 2021, the family had to dig a pond of more than 1,000m²with a budget of 12 million VND to collect rainwater, reserve it for when there is a lot of sunshine, then pump it to irrigate the tea. This year, the sunshine is continuous, so the water source in the pond has been exhausted, it is impossible to pump water, if there is no rain in the next few days, it will be very difficult to save the tea", Ms. Thuy said.

To proactively provide irrigation water for the next heat waves, Ms. Thuy had to hire someone to dig another pond, about 2,000 m wide.²to wait for rain to fall, store irrigation water for the heat waves in August, September and for the following dry seasons.

“At the end of the source, water is very scarce, mainly relying on rainwater. Therefore, to save the tea in the dry season, the only way is to dig ponds to store rainwater and pump it to irrigate the tea. This time, the estimated cost of digging ponds is about 15-20 million VND,” said Ms. Thuy.

Not only Mrs. Thuy’s family, but most tea-growing households in Tong Doi hamlet have to dig ponds to store water to irrigate the tea. Accordingly, households at the headwaters, near the Giang River, near the Han and De dams, channel water into the reserve ponds so that when the streams and creeks dry up, there is still water to irrigate the tea. Thanks to enough irrigation water, the tea remains green and healthy, without being scorched.

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa's family in Hamlet 4, Hanh Lam Commune (Thanh Chuong) grows nearly 1 hectare of industrial tea and 4 sao of tea for cuttings. During the dry season, every 3 days, she has to operate the generator to pump water from the pond to save the tea. Thanks to the water, up to now, after 2 months of intense heat, her family's tea is still green and fresh.

Ms. Hoa said: “5 ponds, both big and small, have been storing water since last year’s rainy season to irrigate the tea. Like every year, if there is a lot of rain, the two upper ponds will be drained to grow rice, but this year, due to the drought, the entire pond area is left intact to pump water to irrigate the tea.”

Never before has Mr. Le Hoang Mai in Hanh Lam commune (Thanh Chuong), who works as an excavator driver in Thanh Chuong district, seen the demand for pond digging, dam digging, and water canal digging increase as dramatically as this year. Almost every family that farms tea or fruit trees needs to dig new ponds or survey old ponds to store water for irrigation.

“The demand has increased 5-7 times compared to previous years. Households with ponds have dug new ponds, dredged old ponds and waited for rain to accumulate water to pump for irrigation. There were times when we couldn’t keep up and had to call in more machines from other places to meet the people’s needs. Currently, there are still 5 households that have made appointments in advance and are waiting for the machines to arrive,” said Mr. Mai.

Mr. Mai said that the cost of scooping up a pond ranges from a few million to a few tens of millions of VND, depending on the area, depth, terrain, and soil type. Households near water sources such as dams, streams, rivers, and streams lead water into storage ponds, while those far from water sources use ponds as “reservoirs” to store water during the rainy season and pump it to irrigate during the dry season.

Costs millions each time watering

In the harsh drought, in addition to digging more ponds and drilling more wells to get water for irrigation, for tea growers far from residential areas, where 3-phase electricity has not yet reached the site, it is extremely difficult. To irrigate the tea, they have to use a diesel engine. According to calculations, the cost of 1 hour of irrigation, the cost of fuel is 10-12 times higher than the cost of electricity. On the other hand, using a diesel engine, the pumping force is weaker, the irrigation is slower, and it takes more effort.

Mr. Le Van Thang, the owner of a 2-hectare tea plantation in Hanh Lam commune, said that since the beginning of the dry season, his family has used nearly 500 liters of oil to operate the generator to irrigate the tea. "Each pumping session lasts 18-20 hours, each hour uses 3-4 liters of oil, which means that it costs about 1.5-1.8 million VND in oil for one pumping session. On average, there are about 10 sessions per month. With the price of tea this year, we will still be able to cover our expenses, but if the price of tea drops, we will have to make up for the loss," said Mr. Thang.

Although it is expensive, according to Mr. Thang, he is still lucky to have water stored in the pond to irrigate the tea, better than other households without water who helplessly watch the tea dry up.

Living far from a water source, Mrs. Bui Thi Thuy’s family in Tong Doi hamlet, Thanh Duc commune, has to use a generator to irrigate their tea fields. Since the beginning of the dry season, she has spent nearly 75 million VND to buy 400 liters of oil at the current price of 18,800 VND/liter.

Ms. Thuy wishes: “For irrigation, we will use streams, ponds, and reservoirs, but oil is too expensive. The current tea price can still be salvaged, but if the tea price drops, we will not be able to make up for the loss. Therefore, we hope that all levels and sectors will pay attention so that tea growers can install 3-phase electricity to serve irrigation pumps.”