In the central province of Nghe An, the thick fog and cold weather over the past weeks has hurt lime crops.
In mountainous towns and villages of Nam Dan district the limes grown there have become discoloured and even dropped off the trees.
One local, Ho Van Tinh, said, “In previous years, limes went for around 10,000 or VND12,000 (USD0.5-USD0.6) per kilogramme. This year, however, we have to really bargain because the limes are not good. The situation may make it impossible to have a happy Tet because we’ll all be worried about our crops.”
As limes drops en masse, farmers in Nam Tan and Nam Loc in communes are forced to lower their prices to between VND1,000 and VND1,500 per kilogramme. Many of the limes are not even marketable.
Nguyen Van Bat, an owner of a lime orchard in Nam Loc commune, shared, “For years, we fetched at least VND50 million (USD2,500) for each harvest. This year we’re just hoping to make VND10 million or VND20 million (USD500-USD1,000). That will barely cover the cost of fertiliser. If this continues, we could be on the verge of starvation.”
“I was looking forward to a good crop this year. Nobody predicted such a cold winter. Fog has decimated our trees,” said Nguyen Van Hung from Nam Loc commune.
Some images of lime orchard in Nam Dan:
The limes are falling
Discoloured limes are worthless
Fogs takes its toll on the orchards