During the peak hot weather of summer in Nghe An, most of the tea growing areas in Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong districts... are still green. To ensure green tea in the hot sun, tea growers have "made rain" by investing in irrigation systems. Depending on the area, pumps can be brought to lakes, dams or wells, the investment for the tea irrigation system ranges from 40 to 100 million VND. That amount is equivalent to the value of a year of tea harvest on 1 hectare. In return, the tea areas irrigated in the summer are always green, ensuring productivity and quality, especially in the recent harvest, tea buds are increasing in price.
I still remember, many years ago, every time the summer was at its peak, many crops in Nghe An and the Central provinces died from the sun. The damage to agricultural production was huge, especially for raw material crops that take a long time to build (plant, care) before being harvested. Investing in an irrigation system for tea has been recommended by scientists for a long time. The important thing is that tea growers themselves see the effectiveness and boldly invest, purchase machinery and operate it daily. To irrigate 1 hectare of tea, people have to spend almost a half a day moving pipes and spray guns evenly across the tea area. The effort and money to "make rain" like that is huge, but it will bring "sure-win" tea buds.
Irrigated tea areas in Nghe An are applying sprinkler irrigation techniques. This is a solution to bring water to the plants, seeping into the ground by creating artificial rain, which is considered to be very effective. Sprinkler irrigation helps limit water loss due to evaporation, does not break the soil structure at the base of the tree, and does not create flow on the ground. Garden owners can adjust the wetting space to suit the growth of the plants as well as the weather at each time. According to many experts, investing in sprinkler irrigation for tea plants helps increase productivity by about 20-30% compared to non-irrigated areas. In particular, with the extremely hot climate in Nghe An and the Central region, if not irrigated in the summer, not only will the plants lose productivity, but many areas will also wither.
In agricultural production, from the past to the present, we still mention the factors: "First water, second fertilizer, third diligence, fourth seeds". Therefore, now, no matter what crops are grown, people also pay attention to investing in irrigation systems. That investment in "making rain" is not a small cost, but will bring stable results for production in the long term. Looking at the world, like in Israel, the summer temperature sometimes reaches 520C, nearly half of the area is desert, however, they have invested in "making rain" methodically and become a strong agricultural country.
Article: Nguyen Nguyen
Illustration: Thanh Phuc
