Proactively protect fruit gardens during flood season

People in Xa Phien commune, Can Tho city reinforce the embankment to protect crops during the flood season. Photo: HOAI THU

Mr. La Van Nhieu's family in My Phu A hamlet, Phung Hiep commune, Can Tho city, has more than 500 custard apple and durian trees that are bearing fruit. Every time the floodwaters come, his diesel engine operates at full capacity to pump water out of the garden. Mr. Nhieu shared: "This year the floodwaters are not as high as in previous years, but the ground in this area is low, if not pumped in time, the stagnant water in the garden will cause the trees to lose leaves and grow poorly. When the trees cannot absorb nutrients, fertilization is also ineffective, causing even more damage." Mr. Nhieu said that in recent years, despite the erratic price fluctuations, his garden still generates an income of several hundred million VND/year.

Not only Mr. Nhieu, many other gardeners also put pumps on standby during the flood season. In Hiep Hung commune, Can Tho city, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung cultivates more than 3 hectares of Taiwanese guava and Queen guava. For nearly half a month, Mr. Hung has reinforced the embankment and actively dug ditches to drain water quickly. The pump is always ready to operate whenever there is heavy rain, flood water, or high tides. In addition, he also uses easily soluble organic fertilizers to fertilize plants to limit root rot.

Mr. Hung said: “In recent days, households in Hiep Hung commune have also bought rubber to line their gardens, dug drainage ditches, and used soil to line the banks of the embankment to prevent water from outside from flooding into the garden. Although the initial cost is quite expensive, this method is clearly effective, helping plants avoid flooding.”

Along with the efforts of the people, many canals have also been dredged by localities. At the same time, the sewer and electric pumping station projects invested by the State in recent years have also been effective in draining water for people's fruit orchards. Mr. Nguyen Van Xi in Tan Binh commune, Can Tho city, said: "Thanks to the solid dyke and sewer system, the water has flooded the fields in the past few days but the fruit orchards have not been affected. The orchards here have been producing smoothly thanks to the strong protective dykes. I and the surrounding orchards grow many types of fruit trees with high economic value such as durian, mangosteen, jackfruit... If not protected carefully, the roots of the trees will be submerged, the trees will easily lose strength, slow down growth, affecting productivity and reducing income."

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, the city's fruit tree growing area by the end of September 2025 was 102,194 hectares, reaching 100% of the plan, an increase of 1.26% over the same period in 2024. The main crops are grapefruit, orange, tangerine, lemon, mango, longan, durian, star apple, jackfruit, guava, custard apple... In the first 9 months of 2025, the estimated harvested output was 878,520 tons, reaching 76.13% of the plan.

In recent times, the agricultural sector has done a good job of managing dykes, ensuring the safety of irrigation works, directing the reinforcement, maintenance and repair of dykes to prevent floods and high tides; strictly managing the culvert and sluice systems along rivers, canals and streams, especially in rice-growing areas, aquaculture areas, fruit-growing areas... Specialized units and localities have cleared the flow of level 1, level 2, level 3 canals and intra-field canals to quickly drain floods to protect residents and production. Conducting inspections and reviews of irrigation works and evaluating the operation of irrigation systems to have a plan to handle, maintain and repair damaged items. Urging investors to direct construction units of irrigation works to speed up progress to ensure the completion of works to protect production during the flood season.

In addition, to limit damage to fruit orchards, the city's Department of Agriculture recommends that people proactively pump out water from the orchard and dig drainage ditches quickly to avoid water stagnation that causes waterlogging of tree roots. Check culverts, dams and reinforce embankments to prevent damage caused by floodwaters and sudden high tides. In addition, while fruit trees are flooded, people should limit walking in the garden to avoid damaging the tree's roots. On the other hand, during the rainy season, gardeners need to pay attention to preventing fruit rot on jackfruit trees and gummy trunks on citrus trees... In the coming time, the city's Department of Agriculture will mobilize many resources to invest in building new, upgrading, renovating and expanding the irrigation system to better serve the production needs of the people.

HOAI THU - DUY KHANH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/chu-dong-bao-ve-vuon-cay-an-trai-trong-mua-lu-a193070.html