After the rain, dozens of hectares of Nghia Dan guava trees fell off in large numbers.

Ms. Phan Thi Huyen in Dong Dai hamlet, Nghia Khanh commune said that this rain caused her nearly 20 million in damage. Photo: Minh Thai

During the prolonged rain in recent days, many guava gardens in Nghia Dan district experienced massive guava fall, especially in the communes of Nghia Lam, Nghia Son, Nghia Yen, Nghia Khanh...

Coming to the guava garden of Ms. Phan Thi Huyen's family in Dong Dai hamlet, Nghia Khanh commune, one cannot help but feel sad. Nearly 1 hectare of guava planted with oranges of her family has been almost completely lost, the guavas have fallen around the trees and are in the process of rotting.

Ms. Huyen said that her guava garden has nearly 500 trees, the smallest tree produces more than 30kg of fruit, the largest tree more than 50kg. When it rained, her family tried to harvest the fruit but many of the guavas were damaged, only about 1/3 of the trees could be selected. The damage during this rain was nearly 20 million VND.

Taking advantage of the sunny weather, Mr. Lo Van Thieu, Nghia Lam commune, sold all his guava garden to make up for the money spent on buying plastic to wrap guavas. Photo: Dinh Thuy

After the recent heavy rains, many guava trees have begun to wilt and their fruits have fallen all over the garden. Just a slight shake of the tree can cause dozens of fruits to fall. Many guava growers in Nghia Dan are having trouble keeping or selling their guava, especially at a time when many other fruits are also in season.

Mr. Lo Van Thieu's family in hamlet 13, Nghia Lam commune has 4 sao of guava. The recent rainy days have caused the guava crop to be soft and fall off when ready to be harvested. Currently, his family is trying to harvest to salvage the effort and money invested.

Mr. Thieu shared: "The heavy rain not only makes the guava spongy but also reduces its sweetness, many wrapped fruits are still rotten and fall off. When it rains, no one buys them, so the family takes advantage of the sunny days to pick guavas to sell, but there are few buyers because the guavas are not delicious. Compared to other guava gardens, the family's guava garden is still sweeter but only sells for 5,000 VND/kg. Growing guava takes a lot of work, and without spraying pesticides, the family only arranges one person to take care of and wrap the guavas. However, the poor quality guavas and low prices do not compensate for the effort of taking care of them and buying bags.

Farmers can only salvage 1 to 2 million VND per sao of guava. Photo by Dinh Thuy.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hue's family in Nam Lam hamlet, Nghia Lam commune said that her family planted more than 1 sao of pink-fleshed guava. A month ago, the whole family focused on watering it because of the prolonged sunshine. This month, it rained for a long time, making the guavas ripe and unable to be picked. Luckily, after a few sunny days, they were able to pick and sell all the guavas, but the price of guava was only 3,000 VND/kg, 1/10 of the price of guava at the end of the year.

Nghia Son Commune is the first place and also the guava orchard in Nghia Dan with an area of ​​43 hectares, so farmers here have more experience growing guava than other places. However, according to people, no matter what they do, guava in July is still of poor quality. This year is more difficult because of early and continuous rains, so the guava is not sweet and is often affected by pests and diseases. Guava gardens with a large amount of ripe fruit in July "cry" because the price is too low.

Agricultural staff of Nghia Son commune (Nghia Dan) instruct guava growers on how to preserve fruit. Photo: Dinh Thuy

Mr. Tran Quoc Hong - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghia Son commune said: The guava crop in July every year is cheaper than guava in other crops. Therefore, to limit damage, 2 to 3 months before the young fruits start to appear, farmers should pick and discard them, leaving only a few fruits on the tree so that the guava can produce another crop, ripening around September and October, with higher quality and higher selling price.

"According to long-time guava growers, it is possible to regulate the amount of fruit and the time of ripening by removing young fruits so that the guava can produce another crop. This is also an experience for people to limit damage, not leaving too many fruits in July and August. We have also advised guava growers not to leave too many fruits in this season to limit damage" - Mr. Tran Quoc Hong added.

According to many guava garden owners, with the current weather conditions, guava falling will continue in the coming days if it continues to rain, meaning the damage will be even greater./.