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Billions of dollars submerged in water
For more than 20 years in the marine farming business, from Cat Ba (Hai Phong) and then moving to Hoang Tan commune (Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh), the number of storms that Bui Lanh Ba and his wife have experienced is countless. However, they have never suffered such severe damage as the recent storm No. 3 Yagi.
Mr. Ba confided that over the years, from small-scale to large-scale marine farming, after each harvest, he and his wife put all the profit they made into investing in building more fish cages. Before storm No. 3 hit, the couple had more than 300 fish cages. But they never expected that just a few hours after the storm swept through, all the fish cages were destroyed.
His family's aquaculture cages are mainly made of wood. Before the storm, he reinforced them with anchors and poles, but they were still nothing compared to the destructive power of storm No. 3.
After the storm, the couple rushed to the cage area but all that remained was rubble and pieces of wood lying scattered and floating all over the sea. Hundreds of tons of grouper were almost lost.
“There are more than 200 cages of grouper fish ready for harvest, the fish weigh 5-8kg each, the output is about 220 tons. However, after the storm, the remaining fish are only 2 tons,” Mr. Ba said sadly. The current price of grouper fish is up to 210,000 VND/kg. The estimated damage is up to 50 billion VND. That is not to mention a few of his family's boats were also sunk, the estimated damage is about 5 billion.
“The last bank loan has been almost paid off, only 300 million left. My wife and I are happy because we will earn a decent profit from selling this batch of fish,” he said. In the end, there were no more fish, and tens of billions of dong were lost in the water.
In recent days, Mr. Ba and his wife have been focusing on cleaning up the ruined cage area, not thinking about restoring production because they don’t know where to start. He has also mobilized friends and relatives to help catch the grouper that has escaped.
Today, the grouper that everyone helped Ba and his wife catch was more than 100 kg. He put them in a cage that was hastily repaired after the storm. "Now that I find one, I treasure it," he said.
In Bai Gia area, Tam Xa commune (Dong Anh, Hanoi), Mr. Hoang Ngoc Doan still cannot believe that his entire 2.6-hectare farm, with 7 rows of chicken coops, is now gone. The storm passed, the floodwaters receded, leaving him with tens of thousands of dead chickens lying like straw in the cages.
Mr. Doan's farm raised 80,000 egg-laying hens and pullets, but the floodwaters submerged more than 70,000 of them. He had to sell off nearly 10,000 chickens that were evacuated in time for 50,000 VND each.
Storm No. 3 caused his family about 14-15 billion VND in damage, wiping out all the sweat and effort of the past 14 years. Of that, the dead chickens alone caused about 11-12 billion VND in damage; the rest were the machinery and equipment that came with them, the food and eggs still in the coop.
Mr. Ba and Mr. Doan are just two of tens of thousands of farming households that suffered damage due to the recent storm and flood. Preliminary statistics as of September 18 show that the storm and flood caused 312,000 hectares of cultivated land to be flooded and collapsed, of which more than 100,000 hectares will be completely lost; 3,763 aquaculture cages were damaged and swept away; 22,514 livestock and more than 3 million poultry died.
According to Mr. Hoang Trung - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, more than 200,000 hectares of rice fields alone were flooded, causing damage of about 3,000 billion VND. With 50,612 hectares of crops flooded and 38,104 hectares of fruit trees damaged, causing damage of about 1,250 billion VND.
Meanwhile, thousands of aquaculture cages were damaged and swept away, with initial estimated losses of up to VND2,500 billion. Poultry farmers also suffered losses of nearly VND2,000 billion.
These are only estimated figures as of September 18. Currently, localities continue to compile statistics and review to have specific damage figures, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung emphasized.
"Carrying" a debt of thousands of billions
Storm No. 3 has passed, leaving farmers with collapsed barns, millions of chickens and pigs dying like straw... Many livestock farms were almost wiped out, losing tens to hundreds of billions of dong. Farmers are devastated and at risk of bankruptcy, because all their assets have gone down the drain, and the debt they are carrying is even heavier.
“My family owes the bank about 20 billion VND, and we pay 200 million VND in interest each month,” Mr. Hoang Ngoc Doan said sadly. He is asking the bank to assess the current situation to consider supporting and creating conditions for his family to postpone or extend the debt.
He also hopes to continue to borrow more capital at preferential interest rates to restore production. If he can borrow money, he can start again with a flock of 10,000-20,000 egg-laying hens. But all of this is very difficult and requires waiting.
Ms. Ngo Thi Thuy in Tan An commune (Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh) said that her family invested in 60 fish farms in Cam Pha and 45 fish farms in Ben Giang. After a stormy night, all that remained were a few small fish left in the cages, causing a loss of up to 12 billion VND.
Not only did Ms. Thuy’s family lose all their assets, she also had to shoulder a 4 billion VND bank debt to invest in the fish raft. Therefore, she only hopes that the bank will postpone, extend the debt, and give her a new loan so that she can restore production.
According to the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors (State Bank), as of September 17, about 73,000 customers were affected by storm No. 3 with outstanding debt estimated at VND94,000 billion. Of these, there are thousands of farmers who still owe the bank such as Ms. Thuy, Mr. Doan...
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the ministry will have a document recommending the Government and the State Bank to direct commercial banks, based on confirmation from localities, to postpone, extend, and freeze debts, reduce interest rates, and even provide support so that farmers can restore production in the shortest time possible.
At the same time, it is proposed that the Government issue a specialized resolution on supporting production recovery after storm No. 3. In addition, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development will assign deputy ministers in charge of each field in the agricultural sector to meet with localities, businesses and industry associations to support technical solutions, breeds, materials, animal feed, etc.
Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien also emphasized that it is necessary to continue to solve the problem of agricultural insurance and reinsurance to develop aquaculture, livestock farming as well as other fields in a more sustainable manner.
In fact, agriculture is a sector that always bears great risks when there are epidemics, natural disasters, especially when climate change is increasingly severe. Agricultural insurance is considered a "lifebuoy" to help farmers and businesses minimize risks in production.
Decree No. 58/2018/ND-CP dated April 18, 2018 of the Government on agricultural insurance only identifies 7 types of crops (rice, rubber, pepper, cashew, coffee, fruit trees, vegetables), 4 types of livestock (buffalo, cow, pig, poultry); 3 aquatic species (tiger shrimp, white-leg shrimp, pangasius) that are supported by the State for insurance for agricultural production individuals belonging to poor and near-poor households in a number of provinces and cities as decided by the Prime Minister.
But in reality, insurance companies are only interested in implementing it with rice, while many agricultural production industries need to participate in insurance and the insured objects are not only rice but also fruit trees, livestock, aquaculture, etc.
Not to mention, farmers are not interested in agricultural insurance, the participation rate is still very modest. Therefore, after fierce storms and historic floods, the assets accumulated over decades of many farming households were swept away. They do not know where to start restoring production because they are exhausted.
Next article: Trillions swept away by storm, where is agricultural insurance?
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