On September 30, a reporter observed at Cam Gia peach blossom growing village (Thai Nguyen city). More than half a month ago, this place was still filled with the green color of peach trees in season and the expectations of farmers, but now, everything is different.
After the historic flood in mid-September 2024, Cam Gia peach village - the largest peach blossom growing area in Thai Nguyen province - was left desolate due to prolonged waterlogging, with bare branches and wilted leaves. Many households suffered heavy damage, even total loss.
As a resident with nearly 10 years of experience in growing peach blossoms, Ms. Phung Thi Minh Hong (Group 4, Cam Gia Ward, Thai Nguyen City) could not help but feel heartbroken when witnessing hundreds of ancient peach trees damaged, with an estimated loss of nearly 1 billion VND.
Ms. Hong said that most of the peach blossom trees in the garden are vibrant pink peach blossom trees, 2-3 years old, each vibrant pink peach blossom tree currently costs an average of 2 million VND.
"At this time, I should be focusing on taking care of peach blossom trees for the upcoming Tet season. The flood has killed nearly 500 peach blossm trees in my house. Now I have lost everything, I have nothing left. The whole peach blossom garden is now left to dry, then burned for firewood, it's so heartbreaking!" - Ms. Hong choked up.
In the same situation, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dao (Group 4, Cam Gia Ward, Thai Nguyen City) said that the recent flood also damaged more than 1,000 peach blossom trees of her family, causing a loss of nearly 800 million VND.
Ms. Dao shared that for many years, the entire family's living expenses depended on growing peach blossom trees. The flood caused her family to lose everything, and the burden of debt weighed heavily on her shoulders.
Looking at the peach blossom garden, now just a dead land, Mrs. Dao sadly shared: "Every day after the flood, I could only sit on the steps, leaning against the door, looking out at the peach garden with thousands of dead and withered trees, nothing left.
All the capital invested here, now God has taken it all away. Now I don't know what to do to make a living, I just hope that the authorities at all levels will support people to rebuild from scratch."
On September 30, speaking with reporters, Mr. Tran Van Binh - Chairman of Cam Gia Ward People's Committee - said that the flood last September caused severe damage to the locality, especially to households in the Cam Gia peach blossom growing village.
"According to statistics, up to now, 37 hectares of peach blossom growing area in the area have been completely damaged, and many households have lost everything. Immediately after the flood, agencies at all levels have come to count the damage, and at the same time, there will be support plans for people to quickly restore peach gardens, stabilize the economy and people's lives" - Mr. Binh informed.
Some images recorded by the reporter:
Peach blossom growing in Cam Gia village has been around since 1990 with about 100 members. The number of peach trees is over 30,000, of which there are over 5,000 ancient peach trees, over 10,000 bonsai and miniature peach trees, the rest are peach branches and bonsai.
Peach blossoms here have been granted a collective trademark certificate by the Ministry of Science and Technology and have been recognized as a typical agricultural product of the province for many years.
