Risk of longan crop failure due to lack of irrigation water?

Due to prolonged drought, wells have dried up, causing many areas of longan and some other perennial trees in Thang Hai commune to gradually turn yellow. On the contrary, in households with irrigation water from wells, longan has entered the harvest season, bringing good productivity and prices.

Longan cannot bear fruit because of lack of water

In mid-May, we were in Thang Hai, a commune at the end of Ham Tan district, bordering Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. Along with many other localities in the province, this place has not yet had the first rain of the season. The severe and prolonged drought has affected the lives and production of the people. Driving along Route 331, where the commune's longan plantations are concentrated, we witnessed the contrasting images happening, between places with water and places facing drought.

*Many areas lack irrigation water, causing longan trees to turn yellow.*

That is one side with the image of lush, fruit-laden gardens irrigated by wells. Interspersed with it are perennial fruit gardens that are wilting because the wells have dried up… If the rain comes late, the harvest season, productivity, and quality of longan will certainly be affected and slower than in previous years.

Also present in the longan growing area, Mr. Tran Kim Trung - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thang Hai commune said that the whole commune has 400 hectares of longan, but at this time, about 100 hectares are lacking irrigation water and are yellowing. The reason is that the locality does not have a source of irrigation water, people mainly use irrigation water through drilling wells, but due to prolonged drought, many wells have run out of water. Mr. Trung said that, as usual every year, at this time, longan trees in Thang Hai commune have been bearing fruit and will be harvested in the next month. But due to drought, more than 100 hectares are withering, at risk of dying, almost all longan areas in the commune have not yet borne fruit or have small fruits. Only a few households have wells with water, proactively watering to grow well, and start harvesting. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Van (Suoi Tu village) with 4 hectares of longan and other fruit trees is one of those lucky farmers.

*The longan tree cannot flower because of drought.*

High productivity in irrigated gardens

As a long-time resident and fruit tree grower for nearly 30 years in the area, Ms. Van feels the severity of climate change, specifically the drought and depletion of groundwater that is happening here. Ms. Van shared that to "own" 3 wells with water sources at the present time to proactively irrigate crops is not easy, including luck. Because the effort and money to invest in each 100m deep well, costing tens of millions of dong, if you do not find a water source, it is considered "lost money, suffering".

*Thanks to proactive irrigation, Ms. Van's longan garden has begun to yield its first harvest.*

At the time of our visit, Ms. Van was standing harvesting the first batch of longan in the 2-year-old longan area. Ms. Van said that her family was one of the first households to plant longan for harvest this year, thanks to the well that had water. However, Ms. Van was also worried because the well in her family was contaminated with lime. To cope with the drought and provide enough water for the trees, Ms. Van used water-saving irrigation with an automatic irrigation system, watering once every 2 days. Thanks to that, her family's longan garden has begun to yield fruit, and will produce a large harvest in the 5th lunar month, with a fairly large yield. Ms. Van's rough estimate is that due to the drought at this time, few trees have fruit, so her family's longan is purchased by traders at the garden for 40,000 VND/kg and the price is likely to increase in the coming time. Compared to the selling price of previous years (average 30,000 VND/kg, sometimes even falling below 15,000 VND/kg), this year's price gives people a good profit.

*Golden rice boat label is a 3-star OCOP product of Ham Tan district.*

According to the People's Committee of Thang Hai Commune, this is one of the areas specializing in growing fruit trees and long-term industrial crops in the district. With typical climate characteristics, in recent years, along with intensive cultivation to increase the yield and quality of cowhide longan, Thang Hai has focused on expanding the area of yellow rice boat longan and has been certified as a 3-star OCOP product. The product with the brand name "Thang Hai yellow rice boat longan" is of high quality, delicious, and suitable for consumer tastes. However, in order for the fruit products of the commune in general and yellow rice boat longan in particular to increasingly increase the yield and quality of products, and maintain stable output, it is necessary to enhance the brand value of the product. In which, the prerequisite is to have a proactive water source. Therefore, more than anyone else, the local people are hoping that the irrigation water source from Song Dinh 3 Lake will soon be connected to this coastal area to crystallize the "sweetness" of the climate, soil, water and human care, creating an effective specialized cultivation area and the fruit brand of Thang Hai commune will reach far. At that time, the risk of longan crop failure due to lack of irrigation water will not occur.

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