Dak Nong drought-hit area revives orchards

At this time, many localities in Dak Nong province have focused on overcoming the consequences of drought, helping crops revive.

As the first rains of the season appeared on a large scale, farmers in the northern districts of Dak Nong province, which are often affected by drought and lack of irrigation water, began to focus on restoring their coffee, pepper and fruit gardens. In the coffee gardens that lacked irrigation water due to drought, many trees had only bare fruit stalks, but at this time they have begun to sprout and the leaves have turned a lush green.

Many coffee gardens of people in Dak Lao commune, Dak Mil district, which had reduced productivity due to drought, have been restored by the people.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truyen's family in Dak Mil town, Dak Mil district cultivates more than 2 hectares of coffee in Dak Lao commune, Dak Mil district. Entering the first months of the rainy season, Mr. Truyen focuses on adding nutrients and improving the soil with organic fertilizers, helping the garden regain strength to grow branches and young fruits.

According to Mr. Truyen, at the beginning of the rainy season, coffee trees grow rapidly in branches, buds and fruits, so they need to be supplemented with nutrients. In addition, at this time, many types of fungi, worms and aphids appear in the garden that harm young fruits. Therefore, applying proper garden care measures is very important, helping the trees grow and develop well, ensuring crop yield.

“In recent years, every time the dry season comes, many reservoirs in Dak Lao commune dry up, and crops lack water. Therefore, I apply adaptive measures such as production according to integrated plant health management (IPHM) and creating grass carpets, so the coffee garden is quite resistant to changing weather conditions,” said Mr. Truyen.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truyen in Dak Mil town commune, Dak Mil district applies technical measures to care for and restore coffee gardens after the dry season.

According to Mr. Truong Xuan Hung, Chairman of Dak Lao Commune People's Committee, there are 7 irrigation works in the area. During the peak dry season months, most of the works run out of water. Many crop areas lack irrigation water, with a high risk of reduced productivity. To resolve the situation, the irrigation company has regulated water from West Lake, Dak Mil town to lakes and dams in the commune.

The commune mobilizes people to continue to restore gardens after the drought season. In particular, old, perennial gardens can be cut down for replanting. For gardens with stable productivity, district and commune levels and sectors such as the Farmers' Association and the District Department of Agriculture and Environment will strengthen guidance on care measures and support with fertilizers.

People of Nam N'dir commune, Krong No district replant old coffee gardens.

Currently, local people have been supported by the commune farmers' association and units and enterprises with fertilizers in the form of installment payments. Thanks to the fertilizer support, many farming households have the conditions to continue investing, caring for and restoring their gardens.

“The drought-prevention for crops based on water pumped from West Lake is only a temporary solution. In the long term, Dak Lao must overcome limitations in production planning, irrigation systems, and crop restructuring to adapt to climate change conditions, suitable to land conditions and people’s production life,” Mr. Truong Xuan Hung informed.

People in Dak Sor commune, Krong No district replant coffee with new varieties that are drought-resistant and resistant to pests and diseases.

Not only in Dak Lao commune, in recent years, entering the dry season, many districts in the North of Dak Nong province have appeared many "drought centers". There are some communes, lakes and streams that have run out of water right from the first months of the dry season.

At this time when it rains, the locality focuses on directing departments, offices, communes and towns to propagate and guide people to take care of and restore orchards. Mr. Tran Dang Anh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Krong No district, said that at this time when it rains, in addition to restoring orchards affected by drought, the district continues to direct communes to focus on converting crop structures, using crops with little water and short growing periods such as: switching from rice to corn, beans, sweet potatoes and pumpkins... to limit the pressure on irrigation water demand in the dry season of the following years".

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Nong, in the dry season of 2025, the whole province had about 5,000 hectares of crops affected by drought, of which over 3,000 hectares of coffee lacked irrigation water.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/vung-tam-han-dak-nong-hoi-sinh-vuon-cay-254340.html