Young durian fruits fall en masse due to heat shock

Many durian areas lose young fruits

Mr. Le Anh Quang, a durian grower in Lien Hoa village, Son Binh commune, Khanh Son district, said that in recent times, the situation of hot sun in the area has been intense, with the temperature being up to 37–38 ^oC during the day but only 20–22 ^oC at night, especially in the early morning when it is very cold. This has caused disadvantages for durian trees that are in the period of flowering and setting young fruits in the area and has caused mass fruit drops due to heat shock.

According to Mr. Le Anh Quang, this year, Khanh Son durian flowered three times. The areas where durian flowered and set young fruits about a week ago have all lost their young fruits, with some gardens losing up to 2/3 of the fruits.

Mr. Quang's family has 2 hectares of durian, of which about 1 hectare has lost about 50% of the fruits. Meanwhile, the hot sun continues to be intense, and upstream water sources are in short supply, so there is a risk that durian gardens will continue to lose fruits, affecting productivity.

Not only in Son Binh commune, durian gardens in Son Hiep, Son Lam communes, and To Hap town (Khanh Son district) also lost their young fruits due to heat shock. Mr. Nguyen Tuan, a durian grower in Son Hiep commune, said that his family has 1 hectare of durian, and as of now, about 50% of the young fruits have fallen. To limit fruit drop, his family focused on caring for, watering, and fertilizing to nourish the fruit.

According to the Khanh Son Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, durian gardens that have produced young fruits since mid-April have been affected by heat shock. Through preliminary information, about 30% of the district's total 1,500 hectares of durian in the business period have lost their young fruits. Gardens with standard cultivation that flower and fruit early are less affected.

Durian growers in Khanh Son are also worried that young durian fruits will continue to fall when the first rains of the season appear. Faced with the above situation, Mr. Do Nhi Huy, Head of the Khanh Son Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that to avoid durian trees suffering from heat shock due to prolonged hot sun and large day-night temperature differences, gardeners need to focus on watering the entire plant at 6–8 o'clock to balance the temperature.

In addition, during the period when flowers bloom and young fruits set for 15–20 days, growers need to spray foliar fertilizers as recommended to increase the rate of fruit setting and limit fruit drop. In addition, people also need to regularly visit the garden to check and grasp pest and disease developments and then apply guided measures for effective prevention and treatment to ensure durian productivity.

There is a risk that 50% of the durian area will lack irrigation water

According to Mr. Do Nhi Huy, the whole district has 3,500 hectares of fruit trees, of which about 2,645 hectares are durian.

Currently, the durian area that is not proactively irrigated and affected by drought accounts for about 30%, equivalent to about 800 hectares, mainly concentrated in areas far from rivers and streams in Ba Cum Nam, Ba Cum Bac, Son Lam, Son Binh communes, and To Hap town. If the hot sun continues to persist for the next 30 days, the durian area lacking irrigation water will increase to about 50% of the total area, equivalent to about 1,300 hectares.

Faced with the above situation, to be proactive in drought prevention and control, the Khanh Son District People's Committee has directed relevant agencies and the People's Committees of communes and towns to review areas at risk of being affected by drought to discuss support and remedial measures.

At the same time, deploy non-structural and structural solutions such as guiding and advising people to apply economical irrigation systems, cover with straw and vegetation, increase the use of organic fertilizers, convert crops, and not plant in areas far from water sources or not be proactive in water sources.

In addition, the district will support funding to install field pumps to pump water from the main river into dams that have lost their water sources or into areas at high risk of being affected by drought.