Thanh Ha lychee growers are worried.

The rate of early flowering and fruiting of lychee is quite high.

Hope for fabric soon

These days, when visiting the Ha Dong communes of Thanh Ha district, the lychee flower gardens look like giant raspberries. Mr. Pham Huy Nhuan in Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune (Thanh Ha) planted 2 samples of early lychee including white egg-shaped lychee, thorny egg-shaped lychee, pink lychee, and hybrid lychee. The flowering rate reached an average of 80%. The white egg-shaped lychee variety has bloomed, and many trees have set fruit. Although this year this lychee variety sets fruit about 10-15 days later due to severe cold, the fruit set rate is higher than last year. "Early lychee usually has a high price, like last year, there was a time when it was up to 180,000 VND/kg. This year, if the output is favorable, just the area of white egg-shaped lychee in my family is expected to earn about 300 million VND," said Mr. Nhuan.

In the same Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune, but the early lychee garden of Mr. Vu Van Nhuan's family is considered the most beautiful in the region due to his many years of experience in growing and caring for lychees. Each type of lychee is grown separately by Mr. Nhuan with a total area of 2.7 hectares. Mr. Nhuan shared: "Drizzle and cold like these past few days, if the flowers have been pollinated and formed fruit, will not affect much, only slowing down the development. I am spraying insecticide to prevent maggots from boring into young fruit because my lychee flowers bloom prominently, evenly, and in many areas, it reaches nearly 100%, so it attracts some types of worms around. In the previous humid weather, I sprayed Bordeaux solution to prevent downy mildew. If not treated with this solution, the lychee flowers will be burned by downy mildew."

Mr. Vu Van Nhuan in Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune (Thanh Ha) sprays insecticide to prevent maggots from eating young fruit on an area of white egg lychee.

This year, Thanh Ha district has 3,285 hectares of lychee, of which 1,700 hectares are early lychee, accounting for 52% of the area, grown mainly in Thanh Quang commune and Ha Dong area. Early lychee tea concentrates on blooming and fruiting from late February to mid-March, while main-season lychee tea concentrates on blooming and fruiting from the second half of March.

Holding my breath in anticipation

As much as Thanh Ha lychee growers are hoping for a good early lychee crop, they are equally anxious and worried about the main lychee crop. Because up to this point, many lychee areas are still quiet.

According to the experience of lychee growers, lychee trees prefer cold and dry weather for the lychee to differentiate flower buds, but it must be at the right time, in the pre-spring period. By about January 20, the lychee will have bloomed. If it is cold and rainy at this time, it is too late and not suitable for the lychee tree.

Some lychee areas have flowers and buds.

More than 1 hectare of lychee belonging to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Gai's family in Hamlet 3, Thanh Xa Commune (Thanh Ha) has not shown any signs of blooming, although the lychee leaves are very green. Mrs. Gai said: "There has never been a year like this year, it has been silent, no buds, no flowers. I checked and saw that it was turning dark. Like every year, by this time, the frog eggs are already pure white. The reason is the weather, December is cold and dry but the temperature difference between day and night is large. High daytime temperatures also make it difficult for the lychee to differentiate flower buds."

This is the common situation of many lychee gardens in Thanh Xa and Thanh Thuy communes (Thanh Ha). Mr. Nguyen Van Thin in Hamlet 3, Thanh Xa commune said that some lychee areas have flowers and shoots, but the flower ratio is not high, making it difficult to handle the shoots. The stunted lychee trees of last year have been blooming for a long time this year.

According to the forecast of the Hai Duong Province Hydrometeorological Station, the first half of March will still be cold, freezing and drizzly. This type of weather makes Thanh Ha lychee growers even more nervous.

NHAT NGUYEN

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