Unseasonal rains cause cotton crop failure.

Since January, the southeastern region of Lam Dong province has experienced continuous unseasonal rains, causing many cashew orchards to suffer from flower blight. Many orchards have produced fewer fruits, with yields reduced by up to 80% in some areas, resulting in significant losses for cashew farmers.

K'Son's cashew orchard suffered over 60% of its flowers "burned" due to unseasonal rains.

In the southeastern part of the province this season, in the villages along the La Ngà River, along National Highway 55 or Provincial Road DT.717, at intersections and crossroads, you will see women sitting with scales and bags of cashew nuts beside them. These are the people who buy cashews in small quantities, "lying in wait" for households returning from harvesting cashews in their fields.

Ms. Hoang Thi Nga, weighing cashew nuts for people on National Highway 55 in Tanh Linh commune, said: “This year the cashew crop is poor, so we can't buy much. Last year, we bought 1-1.5 tons a day, but this year we only get 100-300 kg, and we have to sit here from noon until 6 pm.” Standing next to her, Mr. Tran Phi, receiving money from Ms. Nga for selling cashew nuts, confided: “My family has 2 hectares of cashew trees planted along National Highway 55. In previous years, the cashew crop was good, so we would go and collect about 50 kg of nuts every other day, harvesting 2.5-3 tons a season. But this year, we only go to collect nuts every 3-4 days and only get 10-20 kg. This season is a heavy loss…”

Similar to Tánh Linh, the cashew orchards in Đồng Kho, Bắc Ruộng, and Nghị Đức communes also suffered from flower blight. Đồng Kho commune has a relatively large cashew growing area, approximately 1,300 hectares, mostly planted on hillsides. Specifically, the villages of La Ngâu 1, 2, and 3 in Đồng Kho commune, inhabited by the K'ho and Raglai ethnic minorities, have about 300 hectares of cashew trees. In previous years, thanks to government support in providing seedlings to replace old cashew trees, these orchards provided a good income for the people.

However, this year the locals are quite disappointed as cashew trees are failing in large numbers. K'Son, who was harvesting cashews near the White Bridge in La Ngau 3 village, sadly said: "I planted 1 hectare of grafted cashew trees 5 years ago, and last year I harvested 1.2 tons of nuts. But this year, even though it's the peak harvest season, there are only a few ripe fruits in the orchard. I'll probably only get about 2-3 quintals per hectare at most..."

In Nghi Duc commune, cashew orchards in the Ta Pua area have seen farmers switch to improved varieties, resulting in higher yields in recent years. According to the commune's People's Committee, the average cashew yield in the commune is projected to reach 0.8-1.5 tons/ha by 2025. Before the cashew season, the commune's People's Committee directed the commune's General Service Center to regularly inspect and guide farmers on technical measures, conduct weekly surveys and forecasts, and disseminate pest and disease control guidelines to the local population. However, unseasonal rains still caused the flowers to dry out and the berries to shrivel…

Mr. Nguyen Dong, from Duc Phu 2 village, Nghi Duc commune, shared his concerns: "I've taken good care of my cashew orchard with fertilizers and pesticides, and it produced a lot of flowers, but the rain ruined over 90% of them. It's heartbreaking to see. Cashew trees are dependent on the weather, so no matter how good the care techniques are, if it rains when the flowers bloom, the whole crop is lost. I think after this season, I'll cut down the cashew trees and plant something else because growing cashews is too uncertain..." This isn't just Mr. Dong's sentiment; most cashew growers I met want to switch their orchards, especially those with old, outdated varieties, to other crops. However, deciding what to plant to achieve higher economic returns than cashews remains a difficult problem for farmers.

Cashew prices are currently at 32,000 - 34,000 VND, a relatively stable price range, ensuring profitability for cashew growers. Therefore, farmers are hoping for a similar yield to last year to achieve good income. However, with only the final flowering period remaining (cashew trees flower three times a season), they hope for no further unseasonal rains to salvage this year's cashew harvest.

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A weakness of cashew trees is that during the flowering and fruiting stages, rain or frost can cause the flowers to dry out and fail to set fruit. Young fruits also rot at the stem and fall off in large numbers if exposed to rain, resulting in a low fruit set rate. This year, cashew trees were hit by heavy, unseasonal rains during flowering, causing an 80% loss of cashew crops in Nghi Duc commune...

Mr. Phan Nhat Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghi Duc Commune

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/mua-trai-mua-dieu-chay-bong-433151.html