Illustrative image (Source: nongnghiep.vn)HCM City (VNA) - Farmers who grow mangosin the off-season in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are forecasting a poor harvestas prolonged rains have affected fruit production.
Advanced techniques and chemicals have been used toinduce mango trees to bloom so they can produce fruit for the Christmas and Tet(Lunar New Year) seasons.
In Hau Giang province, many farmers treated their HoaLoc mango trees to bloom in early September, but rains affected the flowerproduction.
Hoa Loc mango is one of the delta’s specialty fruitswhich are in high demand, especially during major festivals. It takes aboutthree months to harvest ripe mangos.
Tran Van Quang, who has 0.5ha of Hoa Loc mango in ChauThanh A district’s Tan Hoa commune in the province, said that 100 of his mangotrees did not bear fruit after blooming because of prolonged rains. The treeswould have yielded seven to eight tonnes of fruit.
“We sprayed chemicals, but it did not work,” he said.
Quang said he has spent more than 20 million VND (900USD) to buy chemicals to spray his mango trees.
Dinh Van Phuong, who has 10ha of mango and has grownthe fruit for 23 years in Chau Thanh A’s Bay Ngan town, said he had treated 800mango trees to have off-season flowers that could be harvested at Christmas.However, the yield was low.
Phuong said his family would lose about 20 tonnes ofmango, or about 400 million VND (18,100 USD), when the harvest comes.
Dang Kiem, head of the Chau Thanh A Plant ProtectionStation, said in recent years mango farmers had grown off-season mangos to meetmarket demand and sell mangos at a high price for Christmas and Tet.
“Mango orchard owners are expected a yield decline of40-50 percent in the off-season harvest,” he said.
In previous years, farmers in the district harvestedan average of five tonnes per ha of mango for Christmas, he said.
This year, district farmers have treated about 145 haof mangos to produce fruit to sell during Christmas.
With an estimated yield loss of about 50 percent,farmers will lose more than 350 tonnes of mango.
In Dong Thap province, which is the delta’s largestmango producer, prolonged rains and hoar frost caused off-season mango bloomsto fail to bear fruit. In addition, many young off-season fruits withered andfell off the trees.
Dong Tháp’s mango supply for the coming Tet, whichwill fall in January, is estimated to be fall by 60-70 percent compared to thelast Tet, according to the province’s mango orchard owners.
The province has more than 9,300ha of mango, withannual output of about 90,000 tonnes.-VNA
Advanced techniques and chemicals have been used toinduce mango trees to bloom so they can produce fruit for the Christmas and Tet(Lunar New Year) seasons.
In Hau Giang province, many farmers treated their HoaLoc mango trees to bloom in early September, but rains affected the flowerproduction.
Hoa Loc mango is one of the delta’s specialty fruitswhich are in high demand, especially during major festivals. It takes aboutthree months to harvest ripe mangos.
Tran Van Quang, who has 0.5ha of Hoa Loc mango in ChauThanh A district’s Tan Hoa commune in the province, said that 100 of his mangotrees did not bear fruit after blooming because of prolonged rains. The treeswould have yielded seven to eight tonnes of fruit.
“We sprayed chemicals, but it did not work,” he said.
Quang said he has spent more than 20 million VND (900USD) to buy chemicals to spray his mango trees.
Dinh Van Phuong, who has 10ha of mango and has grownthe fruit for 23 years in Chau Thanh A’s Bay Ngan town, said he had treated 800mango trees to have off-season flowers that could be harvested at Christmas.However, the yield was low.
Phuong said his family would lose about 20 tonnes ofmango, or about 400 million VND (18,100 USD), when the harvest comes.
Dang Kiem, head of the Chau Thanh A Plant ProtectionStation, said in recent years mango farmers had grown off-season mangos to meetmarket demand and sell mangos at a high price for Christmas and Tet.
“Mango orchard owners are expected a yield decline of40-50 percent in the off-season harvest,” he said.
In previous years, farmers in the district harvestedan average of five tonnes per ha of mango for Christmas, he said.
This year, district farmers have treated about 145 haof mangos to produce fruit to sell during Christmas.
With an estimated yield loss of about 50 percent,farmers will lose more than 350 tonnes of mango.
In Dong Thap province, which is the delta’s largestmango producer, prolonged rains and hoar frost caused off-season mango bloomsto fail to bear fruit. In addition, many young off-season fruits withered andfell off the trees.
Dong Tháp’s mango supply for the coming Tet, whichwill fall in January, is estimated to be fall by 60-70 percent compared to thelast Tet, according to the province’s mango orchard owners.
The province has more than 9,300ha of mango, withannual output of about 90,000 tonnes.-VNA
VNA
