It is helpful to farmers when the weather brings them what they expect and very unhelpful when it does not.

Many farmers planted peach blossom trees especially for Tết  but the weather was not kind to them.

A nasty typhoon swept across their lands, causing many of the trees to become damaged and destroyed.

This is very sad for the farmers.

NINH BÌNH — Floodwater from recent typhoons have damaged thousands of one-to-four-year-old peach blossom trees in Tam Điệp City in Đông Sơn Commune in the northern province of Ninh Bình.

The trees were being prepared for the Tết (Lunar New Year) festival which falls in mid-February, but have wilted and died, creating big losses for local farmers.

There is a large area of peach-blossom trees in Tam Điệp City. This is the time of year when farmers enthusiastically get ready for the Tết holiday. However, the trees were submerged in flood water for a week last month, which destroyed 43ha out of 150ha.

Phạm Đình Thạo, a farmer in Village No 7, said that this year his family planted more than 130 peach blossom trees.

Before the typhoon, the trees grew well and maintained beautiful postures which were expected to bring high profits, he said.

But during the typhoons, more than 100 trees died, and the remainder are starting to wilt.

Thạo’s family estimates it lost hundreds of millions of đồng (VNĐ100 million equals US$4,400).

Another grower, Ninh Văn Mạnh, a senior planter in the commune, said peach-blossom trees were very dependent on climate, so they were easily affected in the typhoons.

More than 50 trees of Mạnh’s family were submerged. 

To limit losses, Mạnh’s family is putting great effort into caring for the remaining trees.

According to preliminary statistics of the Đông Sơn Commune People’s Committee, more than 4,000 peach blossom trees died since last month.

Chairman of the commune Farmers’ Association, Lê Văn Sỹ, said peach-blossom trees were a famous product of the commune.

Sỹ said that in the short term, local authorities and the association advised farmers to replace the dead trees with new ones.

They also suggested that farmers should dig drainage ditches and earth-up the trees more to cope with the abnormal weather.

With the remainder of the trees, Sỹ said farmers should give them more fertiliser so they would develop roots. 

As well as destroying peach blossom trees, the prolonged typhoon last month also caused serious landslides in Tam Điệp City, affecting more than 30 households.

Phạm Đình Cư, chairman of the Đông Sơn Commune People’s Committee, said that in the past, peach blossom trees had been the most valuable plant in the commune. On average, local farmers sell 4,000-10,000 trees per year at prices of at least VNĐ300,000 ($13) per tree. The trees are sold in nearby provinces and cities such as Hà Nội, Nghệ An, Thanh Hóa and Nam Định.

Last year, the total income from selling peach blossom trees in the commune reached VNĐ10 billion ($444,400).

The trees create work for nearly 800 households with nearly 1,000 people in the commune.

Head of the Tam Điệp City Economy Division, Đinh Huy Hiệu, said that to develop the tree industry, since 2015, city authorities had supported local farmers with capital and technical guidance. — VNS

GLOSSARY

Floodwater from recent typhoons have damaged thousands of one-to-four-year-old peach blossom trees in Tam Điệp City in Đông Sơn Commune in the northern province of Ninh Bình.

Blossom means flower.

The trees were being prepared for the Tết (Lunar New Year) festival which falls in mid-February, but have wilted and died, creating big losses for local farmers.

A plant that has wilted has become weak and droopy.

This is the time of year when farmers enthusiastically get ready for the Tết holiday.

To do something enthusiastically means to enjoy doing it a lot.

However, the trees were submerged in flood water for a week last month, which destroyed 43ha out of 150ha.

When trees are submerged they are underwater.

“Ha” is short for hectare. The size of land is measured in hectares.

Before the typhoon, the trees grew well and maintained beautiful postures which were expected to bring high profits, he said.

To maintain means to keep.

A posture is a position the tree keeps while standing.

But during the typhoons, more than 100 trees died, and the remainder are starting to wilt.

The remainder means the left over. In other words, the trees that did not die after the typhoon.

Another grower, Ninh Văn Mạnh, a senior planter in the commune, said peach-blossom trees were very dependent on climate, so they were easily affected in the typhoons.

If trees are dependent on climate, they need the weather to be good to them. 

According to preliminary statistics of the Đông Sơn Commune People’s Committee, more than 4,000 peach blossom trees died since last month.

Statistics are figures that are made up from accurate counting. Preliminary statistics are early, or first counts that have not yet been confirmed to be the official counts.

Sỹ said that in the short term, local authorities and the association advised farmers to replace the dead trees with new ones.

To advise means to tell somebody what might be a good idea to do.

To replace a dead tree means to remove it and put a live, healthy one in its place.

They also suggested that farmers should dig drainage ditches and earth-up the trees more to cope with the abnormal weather.

Drainage ditches are ditches that are dug to take water away.

Abnormal weather is unusually harsh weather.

As well as destroying peach blossom trees, the prolonged typhoon last month also caused serious landslides in Tam Điệp City, affecting more than 30 households.

A prolonged typhoon is one that lasts a long time.

WORKSHEET

State whether the following sentences are true, or false:

1. More than fifty of Ninh Văn Mạnh’s family’s trees ended up underwater.
2.  Phạm Đình Cư  is chairman of the Đông Sơn Commune People’s Committee
3. Chairman of the commune Farmers’ Association, Lê Văn Sỹ.
4. Fertiliser can help develop the roots of peach blossom trees.
5. Phạm Đình Thạo is a farmer in Village Number Eleven.

ANSWERS:

© Duncan Guy/Learn the News/ Viet Nam News 2017

1. True; 2. False; 3. False; 4. True;  5. False