Nghe An farmers struggle to fight drought for tea

On dry days, people in Thanh Thuy commune have to spray water for 8-10 hours a day for tea. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ngoc Lam village (Thanh Thuy commune, Thanh Chuong district) has 100% of households growing raw tea with an area of ​​180 hectares. Prolonged drought has made the soil dry and the tea leaves have begun to scorch. To combat the drought for the tea plants, people have increased watering with sprinklers, continuously watering for 8-10 hours a day.

Mr. Ho Van Duong - Secretary of Ngoc Lam village Party Cell said: "100% of households in the hamlet grow raw tea with an area of ​​180 hectares. Of which, 70 hectares of tea have not been reached by 3-phase electricity, so people have to use generators to pump and irrigate the tea.

During the hottest days, people have to pump water continuously for 8-10 hours. If a household uses electricity to water, it will cost about 80,000 - 100,000 VND for electricity/1ha of watering/day.

The hardest part is that households have to use generators. With the current price of oil, each hour of running the generator to pump water uses up 2.5 liters of oil. With the current price of nearly 31,000 VND/liter, each hour of running the generator costs 78,000 VND. To water 1 hectare of tea, continuously for 10 hours costs a million VND.

Many households invest in installing drip irrigation systems to save irrigation water. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Not only Thanh Thuy but also tea growers in Hanh Lam are having a hard time because most of the 364 hectares of tea are located far from the power line, so they only have electricity for daily use but no 3-phase electricity to pump water for the tea plants.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Luan -Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Hanh Lam Commune(Thanh Chuong) said: "The most effective solution to combat drought for tea plants is to pump water from the Giang River to irrigate the tea. Households that have electricity installed on-site will save money, but if they use diesel generators, it will cost 10 times more than using electricity."

Regularly check tea plants to have specific drought prevention plans. Photo: Thanh Phuc

To welcome the dry season this year, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thuyet's household (Thuy Son village, Thanh Thuy commune) invested more than 100 million VND to install a drip irrigation system, dig wells and cover the tea plants with plastic beads to keep them moist. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thuyet said: "It's expensive but we have to invest because tea is the main source of income for the whole family. If there is a drought, productivity will decrease, tea quality will decrease, and income will also decrease. Having an automatic drip irrigation system will save electricity and water. Thanks to the plastic beads, the soil will retain moisture longer."

For households that do not have the conditions to invest like Mr. Thuyet’s, they take advantage of straw, weeds, and bushes to cover the tea roots to reduce the amount of sunlight shining on the roots of the trees, reduce heat and keep the soil moist. At the same time, they dig trenches between the tea rows to collect water when it rains, so that the soil is “full” and can absorb water for a longer time.

The hardest part is where the 3-phase power line has not reached the area yet, people have to use generators to operate irrigation pumps while the price of oil is high, so it is very expensive. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Chuong district said: "The whole district has nearly 5,000 hectares of tea, concentrated in the communes of Thanh Mai, Thanh Thuy, Thanh Huong, Thanh Duc, Thanh Thinh, Hanh Lam and scattered in some other localities. Currently, the weather is extremely hot, so people are actively implementing drought prevention for tea trees in many ways: Increasing watering to moisturize; covering the roots; building embankments to store water for pumping irrigation... Learning from previous years, people have proactively developed drought prevention plans, invested, and applied technology to drought prevention, so up to now, despite experiencing a prolonged heat wave, tea trees have not been negatively affected by extreme weather."

Covering the tea tree with straw to keep the soil moist is also an effective method to prevent drought. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In theOther tea growing areas such as Anh Son, Con Cuong, Quy Hop...People are also actively and proactively taking measures to prevent drought for raw tea plants to protect their family tea gardens, making up for the costs and efforts spent.