Investigation into the case of thousands of squash plants that were about to be harvested being cut down

Hundreds of millions in damage overnight

Three days after discovering that more than 1 hectare of their family's squash had been cut down, Mr. Vo Van Duong and Mr. Dinh Van Huynh were still confused and worried as they cleaned up the wilted squash plants.

While hiring workers to clean up the plants and squash that had been cut in half and uprooted, and personally collecting the squashes as big as an arm that had begun to wilt after 3 days of being cut and uprooted, Mr. Duong sadly said that on the morning of December 20, when he went to visit the field as usual, he discovered the incident.

Mr. Vo Van Duong pointed to the location of the squash beds that had their stems cut across, about 1 meter from the base. Photo: HT

The area where Mr. Vo Van Duong and Dinh Van Huynh rented to grow squash covers an area of ​​4 hectares, is public land of Lam Son Commune People's Committee and is quite close to the commune headquarters. The land was previously rented by a household to grow basil to extract essential oils, but due to ineffectiveness, it was returned to Lam Son Commune People's Committee.

Mr. Vo Van Duong is a local, living in the commune, and Mr. Dinh Van Huynh is from Tao Son commune (Anh Son). Mr. Huynh has many years of experience investing in agricultural products, mainly squash, vegetables and beans in Anh Son and Trung Son, Thuan Son, Do Luong district.

More than 1 hectare of squash plants were uprooted and cut across their trunks, equivalent to about 1,200 plants. Photo: TH

In 2022, Mr. Huynh and Mr. Duong jointly rented public land from Lam Son Commune People's Committee, invested in a drip irrigation system, seeds, fertilizers and hired workers to grow squash in Hamlet 1, Lam Son Commune.

“The squash has been planted for 2 months and 15 days, and now it has produced large fruits weighing about 1kg. It is expected that in about 20 days the squash will reach maturity and be ready to be sold on the market. We have invested and hired workers to take care of it for more than 2 months now, and the average cost has been about 200 million VND/ha. We did not expect that it would be destroyed like this before the harvest date. This year's crop will suffer a heavy loss,” said Mr. Vo Van Duong.

Mr. Dinh Van Huynh was distraught and saddened by the damage to his pumpkin garden after just one night. Photo: HT

According to the reporter's observation, the squash growing area of ​​Mr. Duong and Mr. Huynh is located near the residential area of ​​Hamlet 1, Lam Son Commune, in the Lam River alluvial area. There are 2 squash areas that were cut down on both sides of the temporary houses that households use to store fertilizers and labor tools.

In the southern region, there were 7 rows of squash trees with the trunks and roots cut off and many squash trees, leaves, and fruits were withered. Each row of squash trees was about 80-90m long, with each squash tree about 40cm apart.

Many pumpkins ready for harvest were cut in half. Photo: HT

In the area destroyed to the north, the temporary house consisted of 8 beds, of which one bed about 64m long was completely uprooted. The rest were also cut at the base and trunk. In total, about 1,200 squash plants were cut down, with a total area of ​​more than 1ha destroyed.

Will investigate and strictly handle acts of property destruction

Mr. Nguyen Van Lai - Vice Chairman of Lam Son Commune People's Committee said that on the morning of December 20, immediately after people reported the incident of more than 1 hectare of squash in Hamlet 1 being destroyed, the leaders and police force of the commune went to the scene, recorded the facts and are currently coordinating with the police agency to investigate and verify.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Do Luong District People's Committee and Lam Son Commune People's Committee arrived at the scene of the incident. Photo: TH

“This is the first large-scale pumpkin growing model implemented in Lam Son commune. This model not only helps create jobs for many local workers, but also spreads modern, concentrated, professional agricultural production methods, promising high profits. It is regrettable that such sabotage happened,” Mr. Lai said.

More than 1 hectare of squash was damaged and has withered and started to dry up. Photo: HT

Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang - a worker at Mr. Duong and Mr. Huynh's pumpkin farm said: "This morning, I and other workers continued to be hired to clean up the chopped down pumpkin roots. During the crop season, the pumpkin garden needs about 10 workers. We are also very sad about the damage the garden owner has to bear when thieves cut down like this."

Workers are cleaning up the cut down squash plants. Photo: HT

On the morning of December 22, when we were present at Mr. Duong and Mr. Huynh's pumpkin garden, the Do Luong District Police force was actively working with Lam Son Commune Police to verify and investigate the incident.

The leader of Do Luong District Police said that they are coordinating with the Procuracy to investigate and clarify the act of property destruction, in the spirit of strict handling according to the provisions of the law.

Clip: HT - TH

Source: https://baonghean.vn/dieu-tra-vu-hang-nghin-goc-bi-xanh-sap-thu-hoach-bi-chat-pha-post282085.html