Extreme weather causes many rose gardens in Nam Anh to lose fruit en masse.

Mrs. Ha felt sorry for the rose tree full of fallen fruits. Photo: Thanh Phuc

If last year, the whole rose garden yielded 2 tons, bringing in 40 million VND for Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ha's family (Hamlet 5, Nam Anh Commune), this year, the rose yield has decreased sharply. Out of 40 rose trees, most of them are rose apples, rose apples, 2/3 of the trees bear sparse fruit, only about 10-15 trees have many, large, even fruits. Unfortunately, the trees with many fruits, when ready to harvest, many of them fall off due to prolonged heavy rain and fruit flies.

Picking up the fallen persimmons under the tree to feed the chickens and cows, Mrs. Ha sadly said: “The storm did not come, the tree did not break any branches, but the fruits fell thickly under the tree, some were green, some were starting to ripen, so I regretted it so I collected them to feed the poultry and livestock. Like this persimmon tree, last year it yielded 300 kg, this year, 200 kg has fallen, now it is the end of the month and the weather is still unpredictable, by the time of harvest, there will probably be a few hundred kg left.”

Most of the persimmon gardens have few fruits, which fall off when they are young. Now, when it is time to harvest, the fruits are rotten and fall off a lot. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The persimmon tree did not lose as much fruit as Mrs. Ha's garden, but the 50 persimmon trees of Mr. Ho Van The's family (Hamlet 5, Nam Anh Commune) also had a sharp decrease in productivity when the rate of flowering and fruiting was low. According to Mr. Tam's estimate, the whole persimmon garden last year yielded 3 tons, selling to traders for nearly 60 million VND in the garden. This year, the weather was extreme, with erratic sunshine and rain, especially during the flowering and fruiting period, when there was unseasonal rain, so the fruit was much less than the previous season.

If last year, this rose tree yielded 300kg of fruit, earning 6 million VND, this year, according to Mr. The, if lucky, he will only get 500kg of fruit. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“It is estimated that this year the yield of these 50 rose bushes is only half of last year. The rose bushes all bear sparse fruit, and some are damaged, rotten and fall off due to fruit flies. In my experience, the reason is that there is a lot of unseasonal rain, and the important stages for the rose bushes to develop are rained. As a result, the wet weather creates many harmful insects, especially fruit flies. Although biological traps are set, because of the rainwater, the flies do not die, so the rose bushes are almost ripe, and the flies bite a lot, causing rotting,” Mr. The shared.

According to statistics, the wholeNam Anh communeThere are about 300 households growing persimmons with an area of ​​about 150 hectares, with an annual output of about 500 tons, bringing in approximately 10 billion VND/year for the people here. Previously, in 2018, 2019, 2020, persimmons had consecutive crop failures, but in 2021, people were excited when persimmons achieved high yields and high prices. However, in the 2022 persimmon season, people in Nam Anh lost their crops when persimmons produced few fruits, and when the harvest was near, the fruits fell off due to erratic weather.

“In the whole commune, only five or seven households in hamlet 8 have persimmon gardens with many fruits, and few of them fall off. Out here, the fruit set rate is low, when the persimmons are as big as a thumb, they fall off a lot, and now, nearing harvest time, they are rotting and falling off. The cause is not yet clear, but it is predicted that this year's weather has been erratic,” said Mr. Ho Viet Hoa, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nam Anh commune.

Some gardens in Mai stream area have more fruit but the fruit is small and not attractive. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The good news is that the rose gardens in Khe Mai and Khe Nua hills stretching at the foot of Dai Hue mountain are nearing harvest season (around the beginning of October of the lunar calendar) and have already had orders from traders, and the price of roses is higher than previous years. In particular, more and more groups of tourists from all over the world come to the "capital" of Nam Anh roses to visit, experience, take photos... creating a good source of income for the people here besides selling roses, typically the households of Mr. Nguyen Van Nghi, Nguyen Dinh Ba (village 8), Ho Duc Dung (village 6)...

Mr. Ho Viet Sy, Chairman of Nam Anh Commune People's Committee, said: Currently, in Nam Anh Commune, there are 3 households whose rose gardens have been bought by individuals for their own use.tourism developmentIn addition, people with beautiful rose gardens also welcome groups of visitors, so they have additional income from selling entrance tickets, parking, and selling other agricultural products such as chickens, ducks, poultry eggs, turmeric powder, tapioca starch, fruits, vegetables in the garden, etc. to visitors.

Many rose gardens have been invested in for tourism, opening up a new direction for the Nam Anh rose region. Photo: CSCC

"Regarding the problem of reduced productivity of rose trees, we hope that the relevant authorities and scientists will come to conduct experiments in the gardens, analyze and clarify the causes and propose solutions for people to overcome and "save" the rose gardens. Because rose is both a typical local product and the main source of income for more than 300 households in the commune," Mr. Sy expressed.