This year, the "golden trees" of farmers in Bac Giang province suddenly have few flowers, the risk of crop failure is clear.

Never before has the lychee garden of Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, Kep 1 village, Hong Giang commune (Luc Ngan, Bac Giang ) had such a low rate of flowering lychees as this season. According to Mr. Quyen, with more than 1 hectare of lychees, last year he harvested about ten tons of fruit, after deducting expenses, he made a profit of nearly 200 million VND. On the contrary, currently only 20% of the lychee area has flowers, he predicts that his family will lose this fruit season.

“Right after harvesting the fruit from the previous crop, I added nutrients to help the tree recover and thinned the branches. However, the weather changed so the usual technical measures such as ringing branches and holding back water were ineffective, the tree remained green. At this rate, by harvest time, I might be able to get a few hundred kilograms of fruit,” said Mr. Quyen.

Similarly, the family of Mrs. Pham Thi Cuc, Dong Giao village, Quy Son commune (Luc Ngan) has nearly 1,000 lychee trees that have been harvested for more than 10 years. The entire lychee hill only has a few clusters of flowers.

She shared: “Every season, the fruit-laden lychee garden not only brings in a significant source of income but also creates a landscape for Dong Giao tourist area for visitors to experience the sweet fruit season. This year is not like that. In the past few days, I have cut off the newly sprouted young shoots and sprayed additional foliar fertilizer with high micronutrient content in the hope of improving the situation somewhat.”

Năm nay — Many lychee trees in Luc Ngan have sprouted.

Luc Ngan district currently has more than 17,300 hectares of lychee, with low flowering of main-season lychee. For early lychee, the flowering rate is also lower than the same period last year, reaching 50-60%. According to the assessment of professional agencies, in Son Dong, Luc Nam, Yen The, and Lang Giang districts, main-season lychee also has few flowers, a sign that lychee production is facing many difficulties. The whole province currently has more than 29,600 hectares of lychee, of which more than 22,000 hectares of main-season lychee are early lychee.

It is forecasted that lychee will not have a good harvest like previous years. Explaining this situation, Mr. Nguyen Van Thi, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that from the end of 2023 until now, the weather has been unusual, with average winter temperatures warmer than previous years; the cold spell does not last long, accompanied by early rain, which is not favorable for lychee trees to flower. On the other hand, after many consecutive years of good harvests, the "health" of the crop has been affected, leading to a low flowering rate.

Low flowering of lychee will directly affect productivity and cultivation efficiency. At this time, lychee is in the flower cluster development stage. To maximize the flowering area of lychee, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has requested key lychee production districts such as Luc Ngan and Tan Yen to direct specialized agencies to propagate and guide farmers to closely follow weather developments, combining technical measures to care for the remaining flowering and fruiting areas. The technical service centers of the districts send specialized staff to closely follow each area and lychee growing household to advise and support farmers with cultivation techniques.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, an officer of the Agricultural Technical Service Center of Luc Ngan district, said: "The center has established a consulting team to provide technical support for lychee growing in each locality, especially in 103 growing area codes for export to markets in Japan, the United States, China, Thailand, Australia, etc.

In these places, we instruct people to strictly apply the technical process of caring for blooming lychee tea to grow healthily, focusing on nurturing flowers to increase pollination and fruit set rates. Pay attention to pruning branches on trees that are not blooming, creating ventilation, limiting insects, pests and diseases from residing and spreading diseases during the changing weather season.

In fact, the year with low lychee flowering rate, the lychee price is high and consumption is favorable. Therefore, it is necessary to take better care of the lychee flowering area, improve the quality and product code to increase value. As one of the long-term lychee growers in Phuc Le village, Phuc Hoa commune (Tan Yen), Mr. Nguyen Van Lam shared his experience: "10 days before the winter solstice (December 22), I sprayed and differentiated the flower buds, spraying twice, 7-10 days after the previous time.

During the incubation and flower bud differentiation period, there is a lot of rain, so the tree trunk should be girdled to cut off the water source. The level, location, and number of girdlings depend on the growth rate of the tree. With that method, while many places have low flowering rates of lychee, in the early lychee area of Phuc Hoa commune, the flowering rate is still over 90%, of which some gardens have reached nearly 100%. Taking advantage of the immediate advantage of the high rate of flowering lychee, signaling a good season, at this time, the people of Phuc Hoa commune are focusing on monitoring and preventing young fruit borers and downy mildew on flowers.

Due to the adverse weather conditions as in the past, this year's lychee output is unlikely to reach the target. To improve production efficiency, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development proactively monitors weather conditions, forecasts pest and disease developments; guides gardeners on technical measures to maximize flowering and fruit set rates, and ensures food safety and hygiene.

Currently, it is the "golden" period that requires focusing on care techniques on both flowering and non-flowering lychee areas. According to the representative of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the unit continues to send staff to closely monitor the growing areas, instructing people on care measures, inhibiting flower buds so that the main-season lychee can flower at the highest rate; recommending that early lychee tea needs to be watered sufficiently, fertilized in a balanced manner, and using foliar fertilizers rich in micronutrients to facilitate the flowering and fruiting process.

For the main-season lychee trees that have flowered, farmers need to lightly water the canopy and use foliar fertilizers rich in trace elements to help the trees flower smoothly. If the lychee trees have both flowers and buds, farmers should be careful not to water them to limit the process of bud formation. Trees that flower and have buds need to have their accompanying leaves removed while the young leaves are still red. Growers continue to limit soil moisture and spray additional foliar fertilizers with average phosphorus and potassium content, rich in trace elements, combined with growth regulators such as Thien Nong Flower and Fruit Stimulants, Atonik... to stimulate flower bud development.

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