120 hectares of salted apples devastated after the storm
Nearly 2 weeks after storm No. 3, Mr. Cao Van Doi (Dong Tien residential group, Bang La ward, Do Son, Hai Phong) is still repairing his house and cleaning his garden. Mr. Doi's family's apple garden is over 5,000 square meters wide, right under the mangrove dyke in Bang La ward. The whole garden has over 200 apple trees, all of which have been planted for over 10 years. "Every year, the apple garden brings in about 200 million VND during Tet, but this year it's all gone, with broken branches and withered flowers and leaves," Mr. Doi confided.
The family of Ms. Pham Thi Phuc (Dai Thang residential group, Bang La ward) also lost the entire Tet apple crop this year. Ms. Phuc shared that her family's main income comes from growing salted apples and raising chickens. "After a whole year of care, the apples have blossomed heavily, and we thought this year's Tet crop would be a good one. But after just one day of the storm, the entire garden of 70 apple trees lost all their leaves and flowers, and many trees had their branches torn off. The more you look, the more heartbreaking it is," Ms. Phuc said.
The most damaged household was Mr. Bui Duy Dung (Dong Tien 2 residential group, Bang La ward, Do Son district, Hai Phong city) when 2 apple gardens with a total area of 6,000m2 with more than 300 apple trees were damaged after the storm. Notably, when the storm hit, his family was starting to harvest off-season apples, with an estimated loss of billions of VND.
According to information from the People's Committee of Bang La Ward, the total area of specialty salted apple cultivation in the ward is more than 120 hectares, completely damaged by storm No. 3, estimated at 42 billion VND.
Trying to save Tet
The entire apple orchard was almost devastated after the storm, but Ms. Pham Thi Phuc has not cut the branches, but only cleared the ones that have been completely broken. According to Ms. Phuc, some apple branches in the middle of the garden are still blooming, hoping to save some of the yield for the Tet apple crop. "Last year my family harvested more than 1 ton of apples, this year we only hope to get a few dozen kilos, whatever we can get is good. The rest of the family will intercrop with vegetables for the Tet season, expected to start at the end of this month," Ms. Phuc said.
As for Mr. Cao Van Doi’s household, Mr. Doi has cleared away the broken and wilted branches and piled them up on the side of the road. As for the rest, Mr. Doi is waiting for the “miracle” of apples continuing to bloom, allowing for the harvest of the Tet and post-Tet seasons. Mr. Doi said: “According to the process, apple branches can only be cut in the second lunar month. Therefore, I still keep the apple orchard as it is, hoping that the weather will be favorable for the people growing Bang La apples to reduce the damage.”
According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Kien - Chairman of Bang La Ward People's Committee - after the damage of storm No. 3, some local people are looking for solutions to "save" the Tet apple crop such as fertilizing with growth stimulants, cutting the tops of the apple trellis... To guide people in implementing optimal methods to overcome damaged apples, next week, the Ward People's Committee will coordinate with the Duong Kinh - Kien Thuy - Do Son Agricultural Extension Center to organize a training course for people, so as to preserve part of this year's apple output.
Some pictures of Bang La apple growing area damaged by storm No. 3:
