VĨNH LONG — Many southern specialty Năm Roi grapefruit gardens in Bình Minh Town in the southern province of Vĩnh Long are damaged after being submerged by the highest tide seen in the last 40 years.

“Tree roots have rotted, growers must cut off their fruits and sell them at the price of VNĐ1000/kg fruit against the common price of VNĐ40,000-VNĐ50,000,” said Nguyễn Chí Lâm, 57, living at Mỹ Thới 1 Village, Mỹ Hòa Commune of Bình Minh Town.

“The high tide passed on 10 days ago, and over 30ha of Năm Roi grapefruit in Mỹ Thới Village is wilted, fallen and dying.”

The Năm Roi grapefruit variety in Mỹ Hòa Commune is well-known throughout the country. Farmers have relied on the strength of this special fruit for economic development.

Lâm’s family has 9,000sq.m of grapefruit garden and expects to harvest pomelo in the next seven days. Lâm said the fruit garden was submerged for several days and grapefruits fell off the trees, so damage was about VNĐ100 million.      

Up to now, more than 80 per cent of the total 1,200ha grapefruit garden in Mỹ Hào Commune has decayed.

Nguyễn Văn Phi, chairman of Mỹ Hòa Commune, said that immediately after the incident of submerged orchards, the local authorities and farmers urgently tried to consolidate and upgrade dykes to protect the orchards.

"Some of the dyke banks are overflowing and the local authorities have mobilised local people and the social forces to repair it," Phi said.

Worse still, local farmers are worried about the upcoming tide. Farmer Lê Quốc Sĩ said the 0.6m-high wall couldn’t protect his orchard during the last tide. “I heard the information about the next tide so I have spent millions of đồng on upgrading the wall.”       

The hydro-meteorological forecasting agency predicts tide will reach the peak of 1.95-1.97m in the Hậu River and 1.94m-1.97m in the Tiền River on October 26-27, threatening the fields in Cần Thơ, Vĩnh Long and Bến Tre provinces. — VNS