Implementing various drought mitigation solutions for tea cultivation.

(Baonghean.vn) - To cope with this year's hot season, tea growers in Thanh Chuong district (Nghe An province) are implementing various effective drought prevention measures.

Before 2014, the entire district had 4,500 hectares, accounting for...¾The tea growing area of ​​the entire province was affected. During the historic drought of 2015, over 1,000 hectares of tea plants died. This was a huge loss because it takes at least 3 years from planting to harvesting, and planting one hectare of tea requires an investment of over 40 million VND.

People in Thanh Thuy tea-growing region install sprinkler irrigation systems.

Recognizing tea as a key economic crop, Thanh Chuong district has focused its efforts and implemented various policies and mechanisms to encourage people to replant and expand their tea cultivation areas.

The district has mobilized over 100 billion VND in investment for tea cultivation from loan programs for farm construction and clean water supply provided by the District Social Policy Bank and the Agricultural Bank. In addition, the district directed the agricultural extension station to organize over 50 training courses for more than 4,000 tea-growing residents on tea planting and care techniques.

Thanks to these efforts, in the last months of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, the entire district restored 200 hectares and planted 350 hectares of new tea plantations, and is preparing over 30 million seedlings to plant approximately 200 hectares in the upcoming autumn season. Besides the tea-specialized communes, people in the resettlement communes of the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, such as Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam, are also actively planting tea, considering it a sustainable solution for poverty alleviation.

Mr. Bui Ngoc Toan in Nam Son Hamlet, Thanh Mai Commune, combines manual and automatic irrigation systems for his tea plants.

Besides restoring and replanting tea plants, and learning from previous years' experiences, tea growers are focusing intensely on drought prevention as the hot season approaches this year. Households near streams, lakes, and dams are concentrating on storing water, purchasing pumps, and equipment for irrigation.

According to statistics, 63% of households currently own some type of water pump. Many households in Thanh Mai commune have invested between 20 and 150 million VND in purchasing high-capacity water pumps and automatic irrigation systems.

Agricultural extension officers from the district station are guiding people in the resettlement area on weeding their tea plants.

Mr. Bui Ngoc Toan's household in Nam Son hamlet, Thanh Mai commune, invested 200 million VND to install an irrigation system. Thanks to this system, during the historic drought of 2015, his 3 hectares of tea plants remained lush and green. The results of protecting the tea plants and the irrigation system implemented by Mr. Toan serve as a vivid example for other people to learn from.

In areas without natural water sources, many households invest in building water tanks over 100 square meters in the highest point of their tea gardens to store rainwater. A typical example is the family of Mr. Dinh Xuan Thong in Da Bia Hamlet, Ngoc Lam Tea Factory.

Many tea growers believe that hand-picking tea leaves protects the leaves during the hot season.

Along with digging ponds, building dams, constructing reservoirs, and purchasing water pumps, tea growers actively care for their tea plants, fertilizing, weeding, and mulching the base with green manure crops and fresh leaves to retain moisture.

Furthermore, experienced farmers advise against harvesting tea by hand during the first spring tea crop. Although the yield may not be high, it preserves the leaves from damage. Harvesting tea by machine, due to high temperatures and gasoline spills, will affect the growth of the tea plants, and if exposed to hot weather, the plants will die.

Tran Dinh Ha

Thanh Chuong Radio