Dak Mil is home to 21,000 hectares of coffee, mostly concentrated in the communes of Thuan An, Dak Lao, Duc Minh, Duc Minh and Dak Sak.
Because of prolonged droughts, Reservoir 40 in Dak Lao Commune, which provides water for 150 hectares of coffee, has almost run dry. Over recent days, pumps have been placed to extract water for coffee trees.
Reservoir has almost run dry: Photo by Phan Tuan
People have had to pump muddy water for their coffee trees.
A large area of coffee has turned yellow with dry branches. Households hope the local authorities can help pump water from Tay Reservoir in Dak Mil Town to help ease the water shortage.
Thuan An Farm has a large reservoir which has also run dry.
Dang Ngoc Luan, who has 1.7 hectares of coffee at Thuan An Farm, said the rainy season this year ended earlier than unusual. Therefore the reservoir’s water level has been depleted despite it being just early March.
In Long Son Commune, many coffee fields are in dire need of water. Dak Sor Stream running through the locality has dried up, affecting hundreds of hectares of coffee in the villages of Tay Son, Dong Son, Tan Son and Nam Son.
Dak Mil authorities will work with Dak Nong Irrigation Works to pump water from Tay Reservoir to several depleted reservoirs to support agricultural production activities.
