Cassava plant under the hot sun

Mr. Long adjusted the noodle sprinkler.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long (residing in Phuoc Binh 2 Hamlet, Suoi Da Commune, Duong Minh Chau District) is cultivating about 1 hectare of cassava and said that this year the heat is intense and prolonged, cassava growers have to spend more money to water the plants. This cost has even increased many times compared to 2023 but the cassava plants are still in a state of water shortage and withering.

Mr. Long shared that in previous cassava crops, people only had to invest in the cost of buying oil to run the cassava watering machine for about 1.5 to 2 months before stopping, because the rainy season had begun. However, this year, cassava growers have been continuously "holding" the cost of watering for many months without rain, the additional cost has increased 3 times compared to 2023.

According to Mr. Long, the intense heat causes the water used to irrigate the cassava fields to evaporate quickly, which increases the frequency of running machines to irrigate the crops. In previous years, after the cassava fields were thoroughly watered, they only needed to be watered again after about 6 days.

This year, cassava needs to be watered again after about 3 days of watering because the cassava plants dry out very quickly. Timely watering of the cassava plants will limit the situation of being "captured" by firehoppers. If people let the cassava plants dry out for many days, there is a high risk of firehoppers attacking and spreading widely, reducing crop yields.

“Normally, the total cost I invest in 1 hectare of cassava is around 35-40 million VND/ha. This year, while there are still many months before the cassava is ready for harvest, I have invested more than 40 million VND/ha, mainly to buy oil to run the cassava watering machine. With the current prolonged hot weather, gasoline, oil, and fertilizer prices increasing, the investment to grow 1 hectare of cassava until harvest could be more than 50 million VND/ha. If the price of cassava is 3,000 VND/kg or more, there will still be a small profit or break even, if it is below this price, there will be a loss,” Mr. Long confided.

Mr. Hoang's family's cassava crop had just been watered for 2 days and had already begun to wither.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoang (residing in Duong Minh Chau town) said that his son-in-law rented 31 hectares of semi-flooded land in Dau Tieng lake to grow cassava. Because cassava is grown on a large area, the frequency of running the oil pump to water cassava this year has increased many times compared to last year. Mr. Hoang and his son-in-law could not keep up with the watering of cassava so they had to hire more workers. Currently, there are 13 oil pumps located throughout the cassava growing area. The average cost for one oil pump and one worker to water cassava per day is about 600,000 VND.

Mr. Hoang estimated that the investment capital for 31 hectares of cassava from the beginning of the cassava growing season to date is about 1.8 billion VND. This number will certainly increase if the hot weather continues, mainly due to the need to buy oil to run the machines and hire workers to water the cassava. That does not include the cost of damaged machinery, damaged water pipes and nozzles; the cost of food, drink, and temporary huts for workers to rest during the day at the cassava watering site.

“No one wants the weather to change to extreme heat. This is a common difficult situation for cassava growers as well as in many other fields. I just hope that this year cassava prices will be good so that farmers do not suffer losses,” said Mr. Hoang.

Ming Dynasty

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