A series of durian gardens "competed"
Mr. Tran Hoang Giang (Phong Dien commune, Can Tho city) said that more than 5 hectares of his off-season durian land was deeply flooded even though his family had proactively built embankments and installed pumps since the beginning of the flood season.
According to Mr. Giang, in previous years, the dike was still strong enough to protect the garden, but this year the water level rose too high, causing flooding. Although he proactively built the embankment for about 3 more steps, the water still overflowed strongly, forcing him to operate the pump continuously, spending about 100,000 VND per oil per day, not including the cost of reinforcement. The prolonged flooding forced him to pick all the young fruits to save the trees, but many durian trees still had fallen leaves, clearly weakening.
Not only Mr. Giang, a series of other gardens in the commune were also submerged in water. Mr. Nguyen Huu Giau - a gardener near Lo Vong Cung route (Provincial Road 923) said that the high tide overflowed the road many times, causing nearly 5 hectares of land for growing about 80 durian trees over 4 years old of his to be flooded for a long time.
"The water is 3 - 6 steps deep, the trees have begun to turn yellow leaves, and the branches are dry. This year, I considered leaving fruit but now I consider it a total loss," Mr. Giau shared.
High tides beyond response capacity, recommendations for dike investment
Mr. Nguyen Trung Nghia - Secretary of Phong Dien Commune Party Committee - said that before the high tide, the government had coordinated with relevant agencies to survey and reinforce the dykes, implementing the "4 on-site" motto. However, the water level rose too quickly, exceeding all forecasts, causing many areas to be submerged.
The Secretary of the Phong Dien Commune Party Committee informed that the locality had mobilized military and police forces to support people in saving the garden. In the coming time, it will be recommended that the city continue to invest in and upgrade the dyke system to protect fruit growing areas, especially 5-7-year-old gardens that are productive.
Phong Dien commune currently has nearly 3,000 hectares of fruit trees, of which 2,600 hectares are bearing fruit. The recent high tide has caused more than 400 hectares of flooding.
According to the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection of Can Tho, the whole city currently recorded more than 4,280 hectares of affected crops, of which fruit trees accounted for 3,842 hectares.
