Tea bud output drops sharply, affecting farmers' income

Due to prolonged hot weather and little rain, the output of fresh tea buds harvested in the province has decreased sharply, affecting the income of tea growers.

Like every year, by this time, tea growers have entered the harvest of the 4th and 5th buds, but this year, although it is the end of June, farmers in Muong Khuong district and some other localities in the province have only harvested the 3rd and 4th buds, and some places have only harvested the 2nd batch of tea buds. The cause was determined to be due to hot weather, prolonged drought, and little rain, causing the tea plants to not sprout buds.

Since the beginning of June, the province has seen a few scattered rains, but the amount of rain is relatively small and unevenly distributed, so the drought situation in the tea region has not been resolved. If the weather continues to be hot and dry with little rain, the output of tea buds may continue to decrease, causing damage to the province's tea industry.

Ms. Truong Thi Thu in Lung Vai village, Lung Vai commune (left photo) harvests the second batch of tea buds in 2023.

Normally, each harvest, the tea plantation of Mrs. Truong Thi Thu's family in Lung Vai village, Lung Vai commune, Muong Khuong district yields about 1.8 tons of buds, with about 8 harvests a year (5 main harvests, 3 secondary harvests). However, this year due to prolonged drought, the tea has fewer buds than usual, and many areas have burnt leaves and cannot be harvested.

Ms. Thu shared: “From the beginning of the season (March) until now, I have only harvested 2 batches of buds, the yield is only 8-9 quintals/batch, down 50% compared to previous years. Due to lack of rain, the tea buds are fewer and smaller, the harvest time is also longer than previous years by about 15 days (usually 30 days to harvest 1 batch). Not to mention, many areas have burnt leaves and lost everything. Although the price of tea has increased by about 2,000 VND/kg compared to 2022, income has still decreased a lot."

The situation of tea buds producing small buds, few buds or burnt leaves leading to reduced output like Mrs. Thu's family is quite common in Lung Vai commune. The whole commune has 1,057 hectares of tea, of which 839 hectares are commercial tea. Like every year, up to now, the local tea bud output can reach about 4,000 tons, but this year it is less than 2,000 tons. Output has decreased sharply compared to the same period in previous years.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Luong, Chairman of Lung Vai Commune People's Committee, the prolonged drought has made it difficult to ensure water for daily life and rice production in the area, so it is difficult to find a solution to ensure water for tea plants. In addition, the tea area of ​​the commune is relatively large, and there is no irrigation system, so it is difficult to regulate water sources, and production still depends mainly on the weather. We are focusing on mobilizing people to take advantage of the rainy weather to add fertilizer and take care of tea to ensure yield for the next crops.

In Ban Sen commune, tea farmers are also facing many difficulties because most of the tea areas have reduced production. Mr. Nong Van Duong's family in Phang Tao village is also worried at this time because the tea fields - the family's main source of income - have suffered from widespread leaf burns. In previous years, Mr. Duong's family harvested about 3 tons of buds each time he picked tea, but in the last tea crop, the output was only about 1 ton, a decrease of more than 60%.

“This year there has been too much sun, many areas have burnt leaves and no buds. Recently, there have been a few rains in the area but they are not enough to soak the soil for the tea plants to recover. Without rain, fertilizing is useless because the fertilizer does not dissolve. We can only wait for the rain to come, there is no solution to save the tea plants at this time,” Mr. Duong lamented.

Not only the tea growing area of ​​Muong Khuong district, farmers in many other localities in the province such as Bao Thang, Bao Yen... also face a similar situation, causing tea bud output to decrease sharply. Most local tea growers do not have a solution to ensure irrigation water for this main crop because the area is too large, while the water source for daily life and production is also seriously lacking.

According to statistics from the provincial agricultural sector, up to now, the whole province has 5,082 hectares of commercial tea, with a harvest output of over 13,900 tons, down about 3,400 tons compared to the same period in 2022. Without rain, the tea output for the whole year of 2023 will hardly reach the set plan.

As a major crop with a large area, the sharp decrease in tea bud output will certainly affect the income of tea growers in 2023. From now on, all levels, sectors and localities need to soon have solutions to minimize the impact of drought on the province's tea area.

In the long term, it is necessary to continue researching and introducing new tea varieties that are resistant to pests and drought to maintain and develop existing tea areas. At the same time, research and apply science and technology to production, invest in building pumping stations, and regulate irrigation water in specialized tea growing areas. Only then will people be able to proactively prevent drought for their crops, contributing to limiting the damage caused by drought and heat.

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