Coffee areas are burnt dry due to severe drought

Desperately watching coffee plants wither away 

The border area of the Duc Co district is facing intense heat and drought, with fields drying up and crops thirsting for water. The severe drought has caused extensive damage to the crops of local residents. Particularly, coffee trees are suffering severe losses as many areas are drying up and burning, leaving locals and local authorities feeling helpless.

Observations reveal that from the commune's People's Committee of Ia Lang to Kluh Yeh village, many coffee plantations along both sides of the road have begun to burn and turn yellow due to drought. The irrigation water from wells and streams is nearly depleted at this time, leaving many households only able to watch their coffee plantations wither away.

Sitting under the shade of a coffee tree facing the sunlight, Mr Rơ Mah Glil (Kluh Yeh village, Ia Lang commune) has never felt as helpless as he does now, as his family's 1-hectare coffee plantation is progressively withering, with leaves turning yellow and dry.

Mr Glil stated that currently, over half of his family's coffee plantation has dried up and withered away day by day. If there is no irrigation water in the coming days, the entire coffee plantation of his family will be at risk of being abandoned.

"The lakes and streams here have dried up, without irrigation water, the coffee plantations can only wait to die. My family has tried to find water sources but to no avail, we're truly out of options now. Now we can only pray for rain to come down quickly to save the coffee", Mr Glil lamented.

Not far away, the coffee plantation of Mr Joanh's family (Kluh Yeh village, Ia Lang commune) is even more devastated as all of its over 600 trees have dried up completely. In an attempt to salvage the situation, Mr. Joanh hired someone to drill wells in hopes of obtaining irrigation water for the crops. However, after several days of drilling, there is still no water, and the coffee plantation is at risk of total loss.

"Previously, our family's coffee plantation was very lush, with beautiful blossoming flowers. But just over a month ago, the drought situation caused the water source to run dry, leading to the gradual withering and drying up of the coffee plants", Mr Joanh said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Than, an official in charge of land and agriculture in Ia Lang commune, stated that given the prolonged drought, the local authorities have identified many coffee plantations of the residents that have dried up. Currently, the local authorities are notifying the villages to promptly report the area of coffee plantations that have died due to the drought, while also establishing teams to inspect and verify the area of coffee plantations that have died or been damaged to provide assistance to the residents in recovering these long-standing trees.

Desiring investment in irrigation projects

Heading to the Ia Krieng commune (Đuc C district), widespread instances of dried-up coffee plantations are also occurring. Some households bitterly expressed that if there is no water in the next few days, the coffee of the majority of the locals in the area will perish.

According to the report from the People's Committee of Ia Krieng commune, there are over 14 ha of coffee plantations in the commune affected by drought, with damage ranging from 30 to 50%, estimated at hundreds of millions of VND.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ia Krieng commune, stated that there are 2 small streams in the commune, but they have dried up. Additionally, there is no irrigation system in place to retain water during the dry season. Meanwhile, the locals have actively drilled wells, but most of them have run out of water.

"At this point, when both the streams and drilled wells are dry, there's no solution left. Now, the only option is to support the affected residents according to Government Decree 02. Accordingly, the commune will assess the extent of the damage and propose assistance for residents to restore their crops", Mr Quang shared.

According to Mr. Quang, for a long-term solution, it is necessary to build a new irrigation system to ensure water supply for irrigation. Currently, the local authorities have proposed to Gia Lai province to construct a new irrigation dam system in the area, but the plan has not yet been approved.

In recent times, Duc Co district has emerged as one of the hardest-hit areas by drought. Up to now, nearly 170 ha of crops, primarily coffee, have suffered damage due to insufficient irrigation water.