The burden of the peach trees
In late July and early August 2025, on peach fields in Quang Chinh commune (Thanh Hoa province), there was a rather painful scene: a series of dead peach trees, yellow shoots, and bare branches. The reason is that the recent storm No. 3 has damaged nearly 70% of the peach area in the commune, many households are in trouble.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thuc - a peach grower and caretaker in Phu Luong village, Quang Chinh commune - was shocked when talking about the damage of nearly 1 billion VND after the storm. Because, in addition to 500 peach trees invested by his family two years ago, he also took care of 250 long-standing peach trees deposited by customers for 2.5 million VND/grop.
"We have a care contract until Tet, ensuring the trees bloom beautifully, then transport them to customers' homes. Who would have thought that the water would be up to 40cm high for many days, causing the peach trees to die? - Mr. Thuc said painfully.
What Mr. Thuc is most worried about is that the number of peach trees that customers have registered for are all old trees, with trees worth tens of millions of VND. If the customer demands a refund or compensation for the entire value of the tree, the amount of damage is huge, his family does not know where to get it. Meanwhile, he had to spend a lot of money on care and purchasing fertilizers and supplies.
"From July 21 to 23, the water was inundated the fields, and the road was not yet seen. When the water receded, I mobilized dozens of pumps and continuously watered the roots to save the peach trees, but still failed. Seeing the gasping peach garden, no one wants to crawl into the fields anymore" - Mr. Thuc choked up.
Empty-handed after a rain
Similar to Mr. Thuc's family's situation, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh (in Thanh Xuan village) is also in a situation of "empty hands" after the storm. His 250-year-old peach garden has now died, with estimated damage of up to 300 million VND.
"Tous your efforts and money are there. But just one rain has erased them. Now, I have to hire people to dig dead trees and replant small peach trees, but it will take another 3 years to hope for a harvest" - Mr. Vinh sadly said.
According to people in Quang Chinh commune, there has never been a year when the flood water was as deep and complete as this year. In previous years, the water overflowed into the fields for only a short time, and people promptly pumped them out. But the recent rain lasted for 3 days unceasingly, combined with high tides, forcing the closure of drainage to prevent salinity, preventing water from draining.
Currently, people hope that the government will support some of the damage to reproduction. Some households are considering switching to growing short-term vegetables while waiting for the new winter-spring crop.
A representative of the People's Committee of Quang Chinh commune said: The whole commune has 60 hectares of peach trees, but more than 49 hectares have died or withered, concentrated in Thanh Xuan, Chinh Da, Ngoc Diem 1, Ngoc Diem 2 villages. Estimated damage is tens of billions of VND.
"Pikes are the main source of life for many households. After the storm, we have compiled damage statistics and sent a report to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, and at the same time oriented people to renovate their fields and restore production in the next crop" - a representative of the People's Committee of Quang Chinh commune informed.
