Van Nghe island village is at risk of losing all crops due to rising water levels of the Red River.

The release of floodwaters from hydroelectric reservoirs combined with heavy rains caused the water level of the Red River to rise. Over 100 hectares of crops in Van Nghe village, Duc Hop commune were flooded, of which over 40 hectares were submerged by floodwaters, at risk of total loss.

The rising Red River submerged the entire cultivated land area of ​​the hillside area of ​​Van Nghe village.

Van Nghe village has more than 100 hectares of cultivated land with main crops being bananas and corn. At this time, the banana trees are in bunches and are expected to be harvested on the occasion of Tet. However, after just over 1 day (from 5am on September 30 to 2pm on October 1), the water level on the Red River rose several meters, causing the entire cultivated area in the hillside area of ​​the village to be deeply flooded. Banana trees taller than 2 meters now have no tops and are at risk of being completely lost.

Looking at the rushing floodwaters, Mr. Pham Van Hon in Van Nghe village felt heavy-hearted. More than 1 hectare of bananas belonging to his family was deeply submerged and was likely to be lost.

Mr. Pham Van Hon, Van Nghe village, sadly looked at his family's banana field submerged by floodwaters.

Mr. Hon said: "I have grown bananas in this area for more than 10 years, but both last year and this year I had to witness the scene of empty-handedness due to floodwaters. The water was deep above the banana tops from the afternoon of September 30 and by the afternoon of October 1 it had not receded. I and many villagers were restless because this is the main source of income for our family this year. Last year, due to the impact of floods after Typhoon Yagi , we lost the entire banana crop, then "swallowed our tears" to focus on cleaning the fields, urgently starting a new banana crop with the hope that this year's banana crop would be successful. But the floodwaters returned and drowned all hope. Looking at the lush green banana fields, each tree with a bunch of bananas, immersed in the floodwaters, I felt heartbroken."
In the same mood, Mr. Truong Van Qua also felt restless when seeing the flood water coming.

Officials and people of Van Nghe village are worried and heartbroken when many cultivated areas are flooded, at risk of total loss.

Mr. Qua was extremely sad and worried: "Although the flood water level this year is not as high as this time in 2024, it still caused nearly 50% of the village's crop area to be deeply submerged. My family's 1.2 hectares of banana trees are deeply submerged in floodwaters. Only the banana trees have leaves left, and the corn fields in the young fields are deeply submerged in water. Seeing the flood water submerge the results of a year's hard work makes me feel helpless."

According to Mr. Truong Van Huan, Party cell secretary and head of Van Nghe village: "As soon as we learned about the hydroelectric reservoirs releasing floodwaters, our village leaders regularly monitored the river water level. On September 30, the village mobilized a number of human resources and means to close the drainage ditches to prevent river water from flowing back into the cultivated areas and residential areas. However, on October 1, the river water continued to rise, flooding the cultivated areas, submerging the entire cultivated area in the village's hillside area. Many low-lying areas near the village were also flooded. Along with the floodwaters were trash and many floating objects, making people even more worried. The village mobilized human resources and means to clean up trash and floating objects, limiting the impact on the environment and the flow.   Villagers on Van Nghe island are waiting, hoping for the water level to decrease so they can go back to the fields to try to save the crops that can still recover.

For two consecutive years, floodwaters have swept away the hard work of the people of Van Nghe island village, especially the banana growers. “The biggest wish of the people here is for the authorities to research, support the transfer of science and technology, and introduce new crop varieties with high economic efficiency and less affected by floods into cultivation,” Mr. Huan added.

Due to natural conditions, the economy in Van Nghe island village still mainly relies on agricultural cultivation on the alluvial land of the Red River. Many types of crops have been introduced for experimental cultivation here but have not yet brought about clear results. If favorable, each year, after deducting expenses, banana growers in Van Nghe have an income of 100 - 200 million VND/ha. However, with increasingly unusual and extreme weather developments, banana trees are no longer suitable for the alluvial land along the river in Van Nghe, which is a low-lying area, easily affected by the rising water of the Red River, causing flooding. Van Nghe people hope that the fertile alluvial land of the village will be exploited effectively, with suitable crop varieties, linked to production and consumption of agricultural products to bring about stable economic efficiency, so that people here will no longer have to feel pain and helplessness every time the flood waters come.

Mai Nhung – Nguyen Khanh

Source: https://baohungyen.vn/lang-dao-van-nghe-truoc-nguy-co-mat-trang-hoa-mau-do-nuoc-song-hong-dang-cao-3185999.html