Mr. Kpa Hoan (Khoi village, Ia Mo commune, Chu Prong district) said: Cashew trees have the characteristic that when they flower and bear fruit, if they encounter rain or frost, the flowers will dry out.

“Around the end of January and the beginning of February, seeing the cashew flowers blooming in abundance, I was hopeful for a bumper crop. But then, an unusual rainstorm in mid-February hit and all the cashew flowers were burned. My family was only relying on 5 hectares of cashews.

In previous years, cashew yielded 1-1.5 tons/ha but the selling price was low. This year, the purchase price is over 30,000 VND/kg, but the cashew crop failed. My family estimates that from these 5 hectares, we only harvested about 2 tons," Hoan said sadly.

Taking us to visit the cashew garden, Mr. Tran Dinh Dai (village 5, Ia To commune, Ia Grai district) said: “Last year, the price of cashew was only 15-17 thousand VND/kg. This year, the price of cashew is always above 30 thousand VND/kg. My family has 1 hectare of cashew planted more than 15 years ago. For the past 2 years, the cold weather and frost have caused the fruit set rate to be low. This year, I harvested 700 kg of cashew nuts. With the price of 30 thousand VND/kg, after deducting the investment cost, my family does not earn much.”

Mr. Tran Dinh Tuan (in the same village 5) shared: “My family has 3 hectares of cashew. I have now harvested half of the area, but the average yield is only 7 quintals/hectare, down about 60-70% compared to the previous crop. Although the price has increased this year, after deducting the cost of investing in fertilizers and pesticides, my family’s profit is not much.”

According to Mr. Ro Mah Klin - Vice Chairman of Ia To Commune People's Committee: The whole commune has about 1,176 hectares of cashew. Due to cold weather and frost combined with white mealybug disease, the cashew flowers are burnt, the fruit set rate is low. The average yield is only from 700 kg to 1 ton/ha. For the past 3 consecutive years, the weather has been unusual, so the cashew yield is very low.

Mr. Le Quang Dao - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ia Grang Commune (Ia Grai District) informed: The whole commune has nearly 1,000 hectares of cashew. This year, cashew productivity decreased by about 40-50%. Although the price of cashew nuts increased, farmers did not make much profit.

"Fulcrum" of cashew growers

Duc Co district has the largest cashew area in the province with about 25,000 hectares. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tu - Head of the district's Department of Agriculture and Environment - said: Up to now, local people have harvested about 40% of the cashew area. According to preliminary assessments, productivity has decreased by 40-50%, reaching only about 8-9 quintals/ha. The reason is that cold air and frost cause the cashew flowers to rot and not set fruit.

In addition, many ethnic minority households hardly invest in care. In addition, most of the cashew acreage in the area uses old varieties, and the old orchards also cause productivity to decrease.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the province has more than 39,800 hectares of cashew, concentrated in the districts of Duc Co, Chu Prong, Ia Grai, Krong Pa; of which more than 34,675 hectares are in the commercial period. This is a low-cost crop, requires little care, does not require high technology and especially does not need much water.

However, for cashew trees to develop sustainably, localities need to have solutions to improve productivity and quality of orchards as well as link to find stable output for products. In particular, in the coming time, localities need to replant cashew gardens with new varieties with high productivity and quality recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to ensure productivity efficiency and adapt to climate change.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/nong-dan-kem-vui-vi-nang-suat-dieu-giam-sau-post315669.html