The prolonged hot and dry weather is affecting durian farms in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province. VNA/VNS Photo

BÀ RỊA - VŨNG TÀU - Hot weather in recent weeks has had a negative impact on durian crops in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province.

The province has more than 1,300 hectares of durian, with the main durian varieties including Ri6 and Thai, along with an average yield of six to eight tonnes per ha, and an estimated output of about 4,937 tonnes.

According to farmers, durian is a weather-sensitive crop. In prolonged hot and dry conditions, durian trees often burn the tips of their leaves, affecting the tree's ability to photosynthesize and synthesize nutrients.

In particular, intense sunlight for many months has caused heat shock in the trees, leading to premature fruit loss, risking a loss of this year's durian crop.

Nguyễn Hải Nam, a farmer living in Tân Lập Hamlet, Sơn Bình Commune, Châu Đức District, has nearly two hectares of Ri6 durian and Thai durian.

He said that in recent days, hot weather had caused his family's durian garden to continuously lose young fruit, with a current rate of more than 30 per cent falling, and the young fruit on the tree is still continuing to fall, making him very worried.

“The weather is hot, so the durian tree suffers from heat shock, causing many young fruits to fall. If last year my garden harvested more than three tonnes, this year it would be reduced by 30-40 per cent compared to last year," Nam said.

According to durian growers in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, the durians currently bearing fruit will be harvested around May.

Faced with this situation, the agricultural sector of the province has recommended that farmers in the province should fully water their durian trees and use mist irrigation and distributed irrigation methods to save irrigation water.

Farmers should water durian trees in the early morning or late afternoon, and avoid watering at noon.

In addition, farmers should use available organic materials such as straw, dry branches and leaves, and plant residue to cover and retain moisture around the base as well as the entire garden to limit water evaporation and maintain soil moisture. VNS