Hundreds of farmers in Dak Nong are facing difficulties due to the pepper garden falling ill and slowly dying. Notably, according to the authorities, the infected pepper area is likely to spread.
The pepper garden of Mr. La Van Thanh’s family has nearly 1,000 dead roots.
Mass death, farmers worried
Mr. La Van Thanh, who lives in Quang Son commune, Dak G’Long district, has more than 1,500 pepper posts planted since 2012. For the past few years, his pepper garden has been very green and uniform, promising bountiful crops.
Thanh said, according to the plan, this year is the first year the pepper garden enters the business period, which means a stable income. However, from the end of the rainy season in 2016, a series of pepper plants in the garden suddenly turned yellow, wilted and died in mass. Within more than 3 months, nearly 1,000 pepper roots were dead. Although his family has used many sprays, but to no avail.
Thanh said that in order to grow 1,500 pepper posts, he and his wife not only put all their efforts and capital, but also borrowed hundreds of millions of dong to invest. Unexpectedly, when I thought I was going to pay the debt, the spending started… dead.
The remaining pepper, about 500 pillars, also suffered a decrease in yield. Now, to repay the debt, he only had to sell some land. As for the way to handle the dead pepper, it is not known how because there is no capital, as well as working mind.
According to Mr. Thanh, until now, after more than many months of the incident, he still does not know the cause of the pepper garden’s mass death. This made his family, and some neighboring households even more confused and worried.
According to the Quang Son Farmers’ Association, the whole commune has more than 80 hectares of pepper dead due to various causes. This is a situation that has never happened before. Currently, Quang Son Commune People’s Committee is conducting comprehensive statistics on this issue to report to the competent authorities to handle and support farmers.
Similar to Mr. Thanh’s pepper garden, the pepper garden of more than 500 pillars of Mr. Vo Minh Binh’s family in Thuan An commune, Dak Mil district was also infected and died gradually from the end of the rainy season last year until now. Mr. Binh said that although most of the peppers have died for a few months, he still does not know the cause. He suspected the pepper garden was infected by water overflowing in the middle of the rainy season, but did not know specifically.
Also according to Mr. Binh, seeing yellow pepper leaves, wilting, he rushed to the agent of plant protection drugs to ask them to check and measure the pH of the soil to apply suitable drugs and fertilizers to treat but not effective. continues to die. Mr. Binh wants the authorities to soon determine the cause of death as well as make appropriate recommendations to limit risks and damage to farmers.
Currently, hundreds of pepper gardens in Dak Nong are also experiencing mass death, causing households to struggle. The issue of death due to epidemics is becoming a hot topic, not only for pepper farmers but also for functional agencies and local authorities at all levels. This situation happened when the pepper price was only about 95,000 VND/kg, the lowest level in the past 5 years, making it even more difficult for people.
The cause of death is still unknown.
Farmers need to be careful
Mr. Le Van Diep, Head of Dak Mil Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the leading cause of mass destruction was due to people’s abuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, causing pepper plants to “disturb”. , “poisoning” leads to the phenomenon of gradual death. Mr. Diep advised farmers to use fertilizers and pesticides of biological origin to help pepper grow more stably and sustainably.
According to incomplete statistics of the Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Dak Nong, the whole province currently has nearly 500 hectares of pepper infected with diseases that die quickly and die slowly. Currently, due to abnormal weather, the disease situation on pepper is likely to increase sharply.
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Khai, Director of the Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Dak Nong, shared that there are three main reasons for the death of pepper in the province. The first is that farmers grow pepper in some areas that are not suitable for land and soil; the second is because the quality of seedlings is not guaranteed and finally the farming process is not safe, from the treatment of the land to prevent diseases to the use of fertilizers and pesticides that are not suitable. type and dosage.
According to Mr. Le Trong Yen, Director of Dak Nong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the immediate immediate future, the Department directs specialized units to coordinate with local authorities to focus on investigating and statistics on the dead pepper area and determining the cause to take measures. timely support measures to help farmers limit losses, especially for newly infected areas.
In the long term, the agricultural sector is promoting and accelerating the establishment of pepper growing groups and cooperatives to strengthen the connection between pepper farmers and scientists, technical experts, businessmen, etc. industry … to facilitate the transfer of science and technology as well as output for products.
Follow Hung Thinh (VNA)
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