Heavy downpours have been occurring in parts of Da Nang due to the effects of cold air moving down from the north.  As a result, some parts of the many flower and organic vegetable growing areas in the districts of Hoa Vang and Cam Le are currently under water. 

A local vegetable farmer in Hoa Vang District

To make the problem worse, many of the flowers and vegetables are now being affected by pests, making growers increasingly concerned about post-harvest losses due to the ongoing unfavourable weather conditions.

It is reported that a total of 12,200 pots of daisies in the communes of Hoa Lien, Hoa Phuoc and Hoa Chau in Hoa Vang District have been badly affected by the harmful pests.

The Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Office of the Hoa Vang District, Mrs Ngo Thi Hanh, remarked that her unit and the city’s Department of Horticulture and Plant Protection have made every effort to assist local farmers to spray microbial fertiliser onto their crops and instruct them about how to deal with fungal diseases.  However, the recent rain squalls alternating with scorching sunshine have only helped the pests and disease-causing fungii to continue thriving. 

The fungal diseases now commonly affecting the flowers and vegetables include black spot, botrytis blight, pathogen-caused leaf spots, and rusts.  The quality of the flowers destined for the upcoming Tet festival is not as good as in the previous years.

Farmer Ngo Van Quan, from the La Huong organic vegetable growing area alongside the Cam Le River in Cam Le District’s Hoa Tho Dong Ward, sadly reported that vegetables such as water spinach, lettuce and cabbage did not survive the prolonged and torrential rains of recent days.

Currently, many grocery stores and market stalls selling locally-grown organic vegetables are facing a severe shortage of these products.   Farmers from the VietGap-standard La Huong and Tuy Loan areas are only managing to supply a total of 3 tonnes of organic vegetables each day.  Also, these VietGap-standard products are facing intense competition from other growing areas in terms of price, and therefore the organic vegetable growers are finding it hard to find customers.