Lychee growers in Thanh Ha are anxious.

The rate of early-flowering and fruiting lychee trees is quite high.

Hope for the fabric soon.

These days, visiting the communes in the Ha Dong area of ​​Thanh Ha district, you'll see lychee orchards resembling giant mounds of sticky rice. Mr. Pham Huy Nhuan in Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune (Thanh Ha), cultivates 2 acres of early-ripening lychee varieties including white egg lychee, spiny egg lychee, pink egg lychee, and hybrid lychee. The flowering rate averages 80%. The white egg lychee variety has already bloomed, and many trees have already borne fruit. Although this year this variety ripened about 10-15 days later due to severe cold weather, the fruit setting rate is higher than last year. "Early-ripening lychees usually fetch high prices; last year, at one point, the price reached 180,000 VND/kg. This year, if the market is favorable, I expect to earn about 300 million VND from the white egg lychee orchard alone," Mr. Nhuan said.

In Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune, Mr. Vu Van Nhuan's early-ripening lychee orchard is considered the most beautiful in the region due to his many years of experience in growing and caring for lychees. Mr. Nhuan cultivates each type of lychee separately, covering a total area of ​​2.7 acres. Mr. Nhuan shared: "Drizzle and severe cold like these past few days won't significantly affect the fruit if the flowers have already pollinated and formed, only slowing down development. I'm currently spraying pesticides to prevent fruit-boring maggots because my lychee trees have abundant, even, and large areas with nearly 100% fruit set attract some pests. During the humid weather earlier, I sprayed Bordeaux mixture to prevent downy mildew; without this treatment, the lychee flowers would be damaged by mold."

Mr. Vu Van Nhuan in Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune (Thanh Ha district) is spraying insecticide to prevent fruit fly infestation on his lychee orchard.

This year, Thanh Ha district has 3,285 hectares of lychee trees, including 1,700 hectares of early-season lychees, accounting for 52% of the total area, mainly planted in Thanh Quang commune and Ha Dong area. Early-season lychees bloom and bear fruit from the end of February to mid-March, while main-season lychees bloom and bear fruit from the second half of March.

Holding our breath in anticipation.

While the lychee growers in Thanh Ha are hoping for a successful early harvest, they are equally anxious and worried about the main lychee crop. This is because, at this point, many lychee orchards remain dormant.

According to experienced lychee growers, lychee trees prefer cold, dry weather to promote flower bud differentiation, but this must be done at the right time, just before the beginning of spring. By around the 20th of January, the trees are in full bloom. Severe cold and humid weather at this time is too late and unsuitable for lychee trees.

Some lychee orchards have started to flower and sprout new leaves.

More than one acre of lychee trees belonging to Ms. Nguyen Thi Gai's family in Hamlet 3, Thanh Xa Commune (Thanh Ha District) shows no signs of flowering, despite the leaves being very green. Ms. Gai said: "This year is the worst ever; the trees are just stagnant, neither sprouting nor flowering. I checked and they're turning dark. In previous years, by this time, the leaves would already be pure white. The reason is the weather; December was very cold and dry, but the temperature difference between day and night was large. High daytime temperatures also made it difficult for the lychee trees to differentiate flower buds."

This is a common situation in many lychee orchards in Thanh Xa and Thanh Thuy communes (Thanh Ha district). Mr. Nguyen Van Thin from Hamlet 3, Thanh Xa commune, said that some lychee trees have bloomed with new shoots, but the percentage of flowers is not high, making it difficult to manage the new shoots. Lychee trees that were stunted last year have produced long blooms this year.

According to the forecast of the Hai Duong Provincial Meteorological and Hydrological Station, the first half of March will still bring severe cold, frost, and drizzle. This weather pattern is causing even more anxiety among lychee growers in Thanh Ha.

UNIVERSAL

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/nguoi-trong-vai-thieu-thanh-ha-thap-thom-374169.html