Quang Ngai: Onion farmers suffer heavy losses due to heavy rain

SGGPO October 18, 2023 12:51 PM

Prolonged heavy rains have damaged onion growing areas in Quang Ngai province. Farmers have suffered heavy losses this crop.

The purple onion growing area in Thanh Thuy village, Binh Hai commune (Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province) was damaged by heavy rain. The area of ​​onions about to be harvested was knocked down and flooded, putting the crop at risk of failure.

Onion fields during harvest were flooded in Thanh Thuy village (Binh Hai commune, Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province). Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Waterlogged purple onions rot at the roots and the bulbs. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Ms. Pham Thi Khanh (Thanh Thuy village, Binh Hai commune) has 3 sao of onions, planted for 2 months and only a few days left to harvest, but due to heavy rain, the onion field is flooded. Ms. Khanh said: “I planned to wait for the sun to rise so the onions would be beautiful enough to harvest, but the rain made the onions soggy and rotten. Normally, 3 sao of purple onions can yield 2.7 tons, but now I can only salvage 3-4 quintals. The onions are flooded with rain, the price is low, only 20,000-25,000 VND/kg, worse, only 10,000 VND/kg and traders do not want to buy. This onion crop, farmers have suffered heavy losses.”

Purple onions damaged by rainwater. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Heavy rain knocked down purple onions. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

The onion field of nearly 4 sao of Mrs. Pham Thi Thanh (Thanh Thuy village, Binh Hai commune) was also flooded. She said: "When we planted nearly 5.5 quintals of onion seeds, the price of onion seeds was 80,000 VND/kg. Now that it has been flooded, we can only salvage 20%, the rest is lost. After harvesting and cleaning the onions, we call traders to buy them, but they may not come, because the damaged onions are very difficult to sell."

People in Thanh Thuy village (Binh Hai commune, Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province) are waiting for the onion crop to save money to plant coriander and garlic next season. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Traders do not buy rotten onions. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Mr. Pham Cau, Vice Chairman of Binh Hai Commune People's Committee, said: "This crop, the area of ​​purple onion cultivation is not large, but heavy rains caused damage. The locality recommends that farmers actively take care of and fertilize to harvest the remaining onion areas. In the face of the tropical depression, the locality informed farmers to temporarily stop planting all types of crops to avoid damage."

Shallots salvaged and brought home. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

People cut onions to sell to traders even though the price of onions is lower after the flood. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

In Ly Son island district, this year's Autumn-Winter onion crop was planted on 200 hectares. Due to heavy rain, about 10 hectares in Dong An Vinh village and Tay An Hai village were severely damaged, the onions were submerged in water and rotten.

Mr. Vo Tri Thoi, Deputy Head of the Department of Rural Infrastructure Economics of Ly Son district, said that the investment cost for growing purple onions this year is higher than every year, about 20 million VND/sao, this onion crop is growing well, promising a bumper crop for islanders, hoping to have money to cover the costs for the upcoming winter-spring garlic crop. However, Ly Son purple onion farmers are very worried when hearing that the tropical depression and prolonged rain will cause many onion areas to continue to be damaged, losing the onion crop will make it difficult for farmers to plant the next winter-spring garlic crop.

The area around the rice fields on Ly Son island district during heavy rain on October 15.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/quang-ngai-nong-dan-trong-hanh-tim-lo-nang-vi-mua-lon-post710302.html