Thanh Chuong farmers take care of and restore flooded tea fields

It has been more than a month since the great flood in early October, many tea fields along the road leading to the center of Thanh Duc commune still bear the consequences of the flood.

Instead of the dark green of the early winter tea fields, the tea gardens are stained with the gray-brown color of mud and dry tea leaves. Many dead tea fields are being pruned and fertilized by people.

Tea fields that were once flooded in Thanh Duc commune are being renovated and restored. Photo: Huy Thu

Stopping while carrying a lawn mower in the middle of a tea field, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (40 years old), residing in Hamlet 2, Thanh Duc Commune, said that his family has been harvesting 0.5 hectares of tea for several years now.

During the recent flood, about 7 sao of tea in Dong Con Man were submerged for many days. After the water receded, more than half of the tea plants in the deeply submerged areas died. The remaining areas were completely dead. Notably, in the areas where the tea plants were still alive, many of their branches were dry.

“It takes 5-6 years of careful planting and fertilization to have a good tea field with a wide canopy, and regular bud cutting 5-6 times a year. However, after the recent flood, the tea areas submerged in floodwaters were severely damaged and will take several years to recover,” Hai shared.

According to Mr. Hai, his family's tea fields where half or more of the plants died were destroyed and replanted, "rather than renovating, intercropping is very difficult to care for". The family is actively renovating and restoring the tea fields with few dead plants.

On the tea trees that survived the flood, mud was stuck to them, many small branches were dry and dead. Photo: Huy Thu

After the flood, the flooded tea fields became desolate, partly because the tea died and partly because of the grass growing between the tea rows and around the edges of the fields. In the past few days, Mr. Hai's family has used a machine to cut the tea tops like cutting the tea at the end of the season, removing all the dry tea branches and creating a canopy for the tea.

Next, use a lawn mower to clean the entire garden and use a plow to loosen the soil along the tea rows. To “support” the tea, each sao of tea his family will fertilize with 100 - 150 kg of NPK fertilizer...

With many dead tea fields, Mr. Hai's family boldly destroyed them, taking advantage of sunny days to plow and replant. "When too many tea plants die, even if it costs money, we have to replant them, only then will the tea be guaranteed." - Mr. Hai said.

People use a cutter to cut down flooded tea beds. Photo: Huy Thu

Similar to Mr. Hai's family, Ms. Tran Thi Bac's family in Tong Doi hamlet had 1 hectare of tea grown for 5 years submerged in the recent flood. After the flood, about half of the flooded tea area had dried up and died, while the remaining area had scattered dead tea.

According to Ms. Bac, both her tea garden and her family's house were submerged in floodwater for many days, causing severe damage. "Now the tea garden is very clear. The areas of tea that were completely dead, about 10 sao, I had the excavator dig up the roots, and renovate the land to plant corn. The family is taking care of and restoring the remaining tea," Ms. Bac said.

Not only Mr. Hai and Ms. Duc's families, but many tea-growing households in Thanh Duc commune suffered heavy losses after the flood in early October. Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Hue - an agricultural officer of Thanh Duc commune said: The recent flood affected many tea-growing households in the commune. The whole commune has nearly 30 hectares of tea that were flooded, concentrated in Duc Thinh, Tong Doi, and Hamlet 1 hamlets...

After the flood receded, many areas of deeply submerged tea plants dried up, some areas near rivers and streams, especially Giang River, were covered with 20-35cm of sand and soil at the base, making it difficult to restore, causing great damage to the people. The extent of the damage is being counted by local authorities.

Farmers in Thanh Duc commune use lawn mowers to clean up their flooded tea gardens. Photo: Huy Thu

In the whole Thanh Chuong district, the recent flood affected hundreds of hectares of fruit trees, perennial industrial trees, mainly tea in Thanh Duc, Hanh Lam, Thanh My, Thanh Thuy communes..., flooded, leaves rotted, roots rotted, dried up...

At this time, while most of the tea gardens and tea hills in the district are harvesting the winter crop, the flooded areas are "living in agony", half alive, half dead, requiring a lot of time and effort to care for, restore, and replant...

In recent years, flash floods and inundations have occurred continuously, causing many tea areas along rivers and streams in mountainous areas to be deeply submerged and die. Extreme and unusual weather conditions are also causing local farmers to wonder whether or not to plant tea in areas that are too low-lying.

The immediate advantage of growing tea in these areas is that during the hot, dry season, the tea is less likely to “burn”, saving on pumping and spraying costs. However, during the flood season, the tea is susceptible to deep flooding, root rot and widespread drying out, causing great damage.

Taking advantage of the warm sunshine, people are renovating the land to replant tea, elephant grass, corn... Photo: Huy Thu

Currently, taking advantage of the warm sunny days, tea growers in Thanh Chuong are harvesting the tops of their lush tea gardens; at the same time, actively pruning branches, plowing, and fertilizing to save flooded areas.

In the long term, tea farmers here hope that the State, all levels and sectors will pay attention and have support policies on seeds and fertilizers to help households take care of, restore and renovate tea gardens, and at the same time restore fields to replant areas that have been completely lost.