Drought has dried up hundreds of hectares of tea plantations in Anh Son District, Nghe An, devastating families.
About half of Nguyen Thi Que’s tea plantion has been destroyed.
Nguyen Thi Que, from Hamlet 15, Phuc Son Commune, glanced sadly at her burned tea leaves, and said while trying to fight back her tears, “My family has a hectare of tea plantation that we have been cultivating for 10 years now, but it has all died. The weather has never been so harsh, and the drought so severe like this.”
With 4 young children, Que and her husband depended on their tea plantation to support the whole family. This year, about 99% of their cultivation area has been lost to the drought.
“My whole family lives on a plantation of about 2,000 square metres. However, the extreme heat has gone on for such a long period, it has killed all of our crops. Fortunately, we can still use the roots as firewood. This is the first time I have to watch my tea plantation die helplessly. Even my rice field has been destroyed by the hot weather. We’re going starve to death if this keeps up,” said Nguyen Thi Coi, another local in Hamlet 15, with a heavy sigh.
Hundreds of hectares of tea plants ready for the harvest season in Cam Son and Dinh Son Communes have also been destroyed. The weight of worry was visible on the tea growers faces. The rain they had expected and needed so much unfortunately did not come.
According to a report from the district’s Division of Agriculture, there is a total of about 2,000 hectares of tea plantation that are now almost 10 years of age and had been the main source of regular income for locals in the district. However, to date, over 100 hectares of tea plants that were cultivated in 2009 have died, and hundreds of hectares of other tea plants have also.
As a result, the death of these tea plantations has consequently made life extremely tough for tea manufacturers in the district. Nguyen Van Hoang, Manager of Bai Phu Tea Manufacturer’s Planning Division, said, “We’re currently managing about 635 hectares of tea plantation that span over areas of Anh Son and Con Cuong Districts. However, due to the drought, over half of this cultivation area has been destroyed. In the first 6 months of 2010, our manufacturer has only been able to purchase 28% of the tea leaves needed, whereas it had been about 70% in the same period last year. We couldn’t buy any in July.”
Anh Son Tea Manufacturer found themselves in the same situation. Cao Van Hiep, Director of the manufacturer, shared that in comparison with 2009, they have lost thousands of tonnes of tea this year, and the number of tea exported has also been reduced by half.
Vo Thi Hong Lam, Chairwoman of the district’s People’s Committee said, “It is true that our tea plantations have never been destroyed so badly. The drought this year has taken a heavy toll on us. Our district produces the most amount of tea leaves in the whole of Nghe An, so a harvest failure means huge economic damage to us and the locals. I have asked the Division of Agriculture to report on the number of dead tea plantations so that we can find a solution to assist our tea growers.”
According to Lam, the district will provide new seeds for the affected plantations, and more support has been requested from the Nghe An Provincial People’s Committee and the government, so that farmers can overcome this terrible ordeal.
All dried up.
Many tea plants have been removed to be used as firewood.