The feelings of Tet banana growers

Loss of income during Tet

Looking down from the dike, the banana fields for Tet in Bai Mac village, Thuong Quan commune (Kinh Mon) are still green, but there is not a single bunch. Those are banana gardens where people keep the young plants of the mother trees that were knocked down by the storm. The big storm broke all the mother banana trees that were preparing to harvest the bunches in time for Tet. The banana gardens collapsed, many families also lost their source of income for Tet. They cleaned up the mother trees and took care of the young plants to get seeds to plant again in the spring.

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Loc in Bai Mac village is both a long-time banana trader and an experienced banana grower, but he himself did not expect that storm No. 3 in early September 2024 would cause such heavy damage. Bai Mac residents have many years of experience growing bananas and have never suffered damage from natural disasters. Even in stormy years with strong winds, the bananas did not fall because they were carefully secured.

During the recent storm, people also proactively tied it down but could not withstand it because the storm was too strong. The entire 2 hectares of banana trees of Mr. Loc's family and many other families collapsed.

"Every year, I just look forward to Tet when I can sell my bananas at a high price to make up for the hard work. But that super storm swept them all away," Mr. Loc said sadly.

With no bananas to sell for Tet, many banana farmers in the Xuan An residential area, Thanh Ha town, do not know what to do at this time. They go to their gardens to take care of baby bananas and sadly recall the scene of previous Tet holidays, when people came to buy bananas busily, but this year it is quiet.

Thanh Ha town has more than 100 hectares of bananas, mainly in the residential areas of Xuan An and An Lao. If there were no storms, people could earn from 500,000 VND/bunch of bananas or more each Tet holiday. This year, many people are worried about not having bananas to buy to burn incense on Tet holiday.

Ms. Le Thi Lien in Xuan An residential area is still sad that Tet is near but there are no bananas to harvest. “Once a banana tree falls, it cannot be saved. There is nothing to look forward to,” Ms. Lien said. For Ms. Lien, this year’s Tet is sadder than last year, and her shopping is also limited because she has no income from selling Tet bananas.

For generations, banana trees have been associated with the spiritual and material life of Vietnamese people. Fresh, green, and beautiful bunches of bananas are often chosen as offerings on the family altar during Tet. For many farmers in Hai Duong, growing bananas is not only a livelihood and the main source of income for each family, but also brings hope for a warm and prosperous Tet season.

Hope for a new season

Not giving in to the storms and floods, many farmers quickly cleared their gardens to plant short-term crops to wait for the new season. Some switched to growing flowers, onions, squash, etc. Although the income was not as high as bananas, it was still a way to overcome the immediate damage.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thuong Quan Commune (Kinh Mon) said that every year, the locality earns more than 20 billion VND from bananas sold for Tet, but this year it has all been lost. Many families borrowed money to invest in production but also lost everything. Banana trees harvested during Tet are still the main crop of Bai Mac village and people are looking to buy banana varieties that are stronger and more resistant to the weather to plant in the third lunar month. In February, farmers start preparing the land, soaking in lime powder to disinfect and prevent pests, and preparing bamboo to protect the bananas.

Ms. Vu Thi Trang in Bai Mac village believes: "If this year's crop fails, we will do it again next year. The land is still here, the trees can still be planted, as long as we try hard, we will get through it. Storms do not happen every year."

Mr. Dang Van Anh, Vice Chairman of Thanh Ha Town People's Committee, said that after the storm, the damage was common so the people were very united. They cleaned up their fields and gardens together, shared experiences and encouraged each other to overcome difficulties.

To meet people's demand for bananas during Tet, many traders have actively imported bananas from Tuyen Quang and Thai Nguyen. The price of bananas this year is expected to be twice as high as last year.

In addition to Thanh Ha and Kinh Mon, many localities also have banana growing areas but were basically lost due to storm No. 3. However, with the acumen of workers, many short-term crops have also replaced them to generate some income.

Overcoming the current difficulties, local people still believe that banana trees bring prosperity to their families and develop the local economy. Therefore, many places are continuing the journey of building a brand for banana products, supporting farmers with procedures for tracing origin, attaching stamps and labels so that bananas become typical agricultural products of each region.

Building brands and participating in production and consumption chains will help ensure sustainable output. People also need to proactively learn from experience and apply technical advances in production to have sustainable farming measures, in which priority is given to building a system to protect crops from storms and rains, minimizing damage when natural disasters occur.