Although storm No. 11 ( Matmo) has passed, the consequences for banana growers along the Red River are very serious. In Linh Nam ward (old Hoang Mai district), Hoang Xa village, Yen Lang commune (old Me Linh district), hundreds of hectares of crops and bananas of the people were submerged in water.
According to banana growers, the water rose rapidly and when the water receded, thousands of banana stumps during the harvest season rot. Many households only know how to scoop up a little batch to make food for cows and pigs; the rest are forced to cut down on the spot and use it as organic fertilizer. There are households that suffered billions of VND in damage, left empty-handed after the historic storm.
Statistics show that the whole Yen Lang commune has about 300 hectares of bananas that have been completely lost, many of which are ready for harvest. According to Mr. Sai Van Cuoi (in Hoang Xa village, Yen Lang commune), his family grows more than 20 hectares. Due to the impact of storm No. 11, floodwaters for many days caused 70% of the banana area to fall or have yellowing leaves.
According to Mr. Cuoi, a banana tree takes about 16-18 months from planting to harvesting, the investment cost is about 80,000-90,000 VND/trunk, including seeds, fertilizers, and care. If not affected by the storm, it will be possible to harvest in just 4 months to serve the Tet holiday, but now it is over. People are almost penniless, each house is lucky to have about 30%. "All the seeds are rotten, now there is only a way to cut them down on the spot, using them as organic fertilizer," Mr. Cuoi shared.
According to local residents, in 2024 - right when the bananas were in the stir - they encountered Typhoon Yagi, almost losing everything. This year, the entire yard was devastated by storm No. 11. For two consecutive years, before the harvest, the rice has been left empty-handed.
At the alluvial plain along the Red River in Hoang Xa village (Yen Lang commune), amidst the bananas cut down and scattered, the smell of moist soil after floods mixed in the dry wind at the beginning of the season, Ms. Nguyen Mai Lien (57 years old) quietly cut down each large banana tree: "The banana has started to come out of the cages, each cage is 9-10 strokes, the tree is big. But now I have lost everything... If I had to do it, I would know how to do it," Ms. Lien said sighingly.
According to Ms. Lien, her family has nearly 8 sao of bananas and 1 corn sample, all submerged in water: "Bananas alone have suffered hundreds of millions in damage, if it is calculated at the end of the year, it will cost a few hundred million because they are all grown for sale during Tet".
If there are no storms or floods, during Tet, each large banana plot can be sold for 300,000-400,000 VND. But the water rose rapidly, now everyone considered him penniless. And Ms. Lien's family started working from the beginning: "We can replant corn, but bananas can only be replanted in November, so there is no time for the upcoming Tet crop. It will be good to fix it," said Ms. Lien.
Not only Ms. Lien's family, many households in the village have also begun spraying disinfectants on the land, renovating the alluvial plain, preparing for a new crop.
In the riverside area of Linh Nam ward, Mr. Pham Minh Trung's family is also clearing the nearly 20 sao banana garden - a place that used to be green, now only the bananas are lying around. He said that storm No. 11 caused almost all of the damaged banana trees in the blooming season, causing 85-90% damage.
"We only have about 10-15% of the catch, but it is very cheap to sell. The rest is just cut into feces or feed the pigs to reduce the cost," said Mr. Trung.
According to the people here, during Tet, each banana bar can be sold for 250,000-350,000 VND, and beautiful and unique bananas can cost up to 500,000 VND. According to calculations, each sao is invested with about 5 million VND, including rice, seeds and fertilizers. This year, his family started planting in early April, choosing the right time to enter the Tet season, hoping to get a better price, but now all calculations have failed.
After two consecutive years of suffering from flooding and loss of money accumulated for many years, Ms. Lien, Mr. Cuoi, Mr. Trung... and many households along the Red River have not given up on their profession, still persistently clinging to the land and keeping the profession.
What people are most looking forward to at this time is timely support from the government and relevant agencies to soon stabilize their lives. Banana growers along the Red River hope that the State and the agricultural sector will have support policies to help people recover, but for two consecutive years, natural disasters have devastated them, leaving them almost penniless.
On the afternoon of October 24, speaking with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Le Van Khuong - Chairman of Yen Lang Commune People's Committee - said that this is an area of land planted outside the yard. After the river water rose, it damaged crops and some of the people's properties. The Commune People's Committee is counting the damage to report to the Hanoi People's Committee for support.
