Gov’t offers advice to drought-hit farmers

Krông H’Năng river is exhausted in Krông Năng district, Central Highland Province of Đắc Lắc. --Photo qdnd.vn

HCM CITY --  The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a directive providing technical know-how for coffee and pepper growers in the Central Highlands and Southeast regions to combat the prolonged drought in these areas.

Under the directive, from  二 五0 to  三00 litres of water will be irrigated to the foot of each coffee tree. Alternatively, each coffee tree would receive drips of  一 五0 –  二00 litres of water over a period of  二0 to  二 五 days.

In addition, fertilisers containing Zn, B or NUCAFE will be used two to three times in the dry season to help the coffee trees cope with water shortages.

For pepper vines, they should be shielded with a trellis to reduce direct sunlight and minimise water evaporation.

In addition,  一 二0 litres of water will be irrigated to the foot of pepper vines over a period of  二0 to  二 五 days. Alternatively,  二0 litres of water will be irrigated to the foot of the vine over a two to three day period.

The Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked farmers to conserve water resources and to not grow more coffee and pepper.

It has also asked them to save water by using dripping and alternating methods.

Farmers have been told to combine dripping irrigation with fertilisation to improve the efficiency of fertilisers.

An increase in the use of organic fertilisers will help the soil remain humid, which keeps the fertilisers.

Coffee and pepper growers were also told to maintain trees with shade and belts of protective forests, and to intercrop with suitable fruit trees.

The Cultivation Department also told farmers to check their gardens for disease and take timely preventive measures to cope with drought.

According to the Department, as of April  一0, in this year’s dry season,  四0, 一 四0 hectares of coffee and  二, 二 九0 hectares of pepper in the Central Highlands have faced water shortages.

In addition, farmers have had to suspend rice cultivation on over  七, 一00ha of paddy fields, and over  八, 四00ha of the winter-spring rice crop are forecast to lose from  三0 per cent to  七0 per cent of their output.

Without rains, in the months to come, the areas of land to be affected by drought and water shortage could reach  一 六 七, 三00 ha, including  一 五 二, 七00 ha under coffee cultivation and  一 四, 六00 ha of paddy fields.

Damages caused by the drought and water shortages in each Central Highlands province are estimated at over VNĐ 一00 billion (US$ 四. 五 million).

Farmers chop down coffee trees

After efforts taken to seek water resources to cope with the worst drought in  三0 years, thousands of farmers in the Central Highlands provinces of Lâm Đồng, Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai and Kon Tum have chopped down coffee trees and pepper vines and replaced them with short-term crops.

Phùng Ngọc Ba, a  四0-year-old farmer from Gia Lai Province’s Chư Pưh District, spent over VNĐ 一00 million to dig three more wells, aiming to save three hectares of land under coffee cultivation. But all his efforts were in vain.

“We have to purchase fresh water for our family’s daily use, as well as water resources for irrigating trees. There is nothing more to do; I have to chop down coffee trees nearly  一0 years old on a third of areas under coffee cultivation of my family, and replace them with other crops to earn money,” he said.

Due to water shortages, coffee trees have lost their beans and leaves.

“There’s no way to save them. It takes the coffee trees at least three years to recover. That’s why I decided to replace them with other crops,” Ba said.

Nguyễn Thanh Trà, a farmer from Chư Pưh District, said he was waiting until the rainy season to grow short-term crops such as corns, beans or grass (to feed cows).

He said he would “take each day as it comes”.

Nguyễn Canh, secretary of Di Linh District’s Party Co妹妹ittee in Lâm Đồng Province, said only  七 六 per cent of land under coffee cultivation in Di Linh was irrigated in the second irrigation phase.

The areas under coffee cultivation with water irrigation in the second phase in Di Linh District have reached  一 一,000 hectares.

“If El Nino progresses, crops under cultivation in our district will become more seriously damaged,” said Canh.

To help local residents cope with water shortages, provincial authorities of Gia Lai, Lâm Đồng and Đắk Lắk have sent tank trucks to villages most affected by the drought to supply fresh water for residents’ daily use.

Trần Trung Thành, deputy chief of the Central Highlands Hydrometeorology Station, said: “The cultivation of short-term crops is just a ‘situational solution’ because coffee and pepper cultivation has been the means of subsistence of tens of thousands of Central Highlands residents over decades.”  – VNS