HCMC: Binh Loi yellow apricot village suffered heavy damage due to flooding, estimated at tens of billions of dong

In late October, Binh Loi yellow apricot village (Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City) - known as the "yellow apricot capital" of the city - is struggling to cope with the historic high tide combined with heavy rain and flood discharge from Dau Tieng lake.

Hamlets 1, 2, 3 and 4 were the most severely damaged areas, with about 900 hectares of crops and livestock affected. Of these, more than 500 hectares of yellow apricot blossoms – the local staple crop – were deeply flooded, with the risk of early budding and root rot, seriously affecting the Tet flower market.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ben, owner of Ut Ben yellow apricot establishment, sadly looks at the flooded apricot garden that bloomed early.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ben, owner of Ut Ben yellow apricot establishment (Binh Loi commune), shared: His family's apricot garden has 12,000 trees, most of which are being prepared for the 2026 Lunar New Year crop. But in recent days, heavy rain combined with high tides has caused many trees to bloom early, potentially causing a loss of billions of dong.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ben, owner of Ut Ben yellow apricot establishment, organized pumping water out of the apricot garden that was deeply flooded due to high tides.

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, owner of the Nhu Y mai facility with more than 10,000 mai trees, said: More than 20 mai growers in the area were affected. Many gardens lost leaves, rotted roots, and bloomed early, with total damage estimated at tens of billions of dong.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, owner of the Nhu Y yellow apricot establishment (Binh Loi commune), uses a pump to suck water out of the apricot garden.

Despite having mobilized pumps to drain water for the past three days, many garden owners are still worried that damage will continue to increase if the water does not recede in time before the next high tide, expected on the 17th day of the 9th lunar month.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Gon, Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Binh Loi Commune, said that she had proposed that the Commune People's Committee promptly repair the degraded irrigation infrastructure, especially the Tram Lay 1, 2 canal culvert (Hamlet 3) and the Cha Chim canal culvert (Hamlet 1) - which have been damaged for many years. At the same time, she proposed to build a temporary embankment nearly 1km long on the inter-border road of Area B (Hamlet 1) to reduce flooding for about 40 hectares of agricultural land, protecting the production of 50 households.

An apricot garden in Binh Loi commune was deeply flooded.

On the afternoon of October 29, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of the City Farmers' Association led a working delegation to conduct a field survey of Binh Loi apricot village. At the meeting, he requested the People's Committee of Binh Loi commune to quickly repair the drainage system, immediately deploy measures to force drainage with electric and diesel pumps, and take advantage of the tidal difference to quickly drain water.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of the City Farmers' Association Nguyen Thanh Trung visited farmers of Binh Loi yellow apricot village

In the long term, Mr. Trung suggested that departments and branches coordinate to implement comprehensive solutions to respond to high tides, ensuring sustainable agricultural production in the context of climate change and increasingly extreme weather.

On October 30, the Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited announced the adjustment of flood discharge from Dau Tieng Lake (first time, 6th phase, 2025), with flexible flow from 36 - 200m³/s from October 29 to November 5, depending on weather and tide developments of the Saigon River.

Although this maximum discharge level does not cause flooding under normal conditions, when combined with heavy rain it can cause localized flooding in low-lying areas along the river.

The Civil Defense Command has requested localities bordering the Saigon River to urgently deploy response plans, proactively monitor flood discharge forecasts, promptly notify people, organize checkpoints, drain water and ensure production safety.

DUC TRUNG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tphcm-lang-mai-vang-binh-loi-thiet-hai-nang-do-ngap-uoc-tinh-hang-chuc-ty-dong-post820817.html