Hail poured down on ripe rice fields, leaving farmers empty-handed

On the evening of April 26, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam – Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ea Kly commune, Krong Pak district, Dak Lak province – said that a hailstorm had just occurred in the area.

This hailstorm occurred on the afternoon of April 26 for about 20 minutes but caused heavy damage to hundreds of households in the commune.

“Hundreds of hectares of rice have ripened, there are only a few days left to harvest, but the hail has destroyed all the seeds, leaving only the cotton. This crop has a very high yield, about 10 tons/hectare. Many rice growing areas varieties, high value, after the rain, many farmers went to the fields with tears in their eyes” – Mr. Nam said.

Many households with 2-3 hectares of rice were destroyed by hail, causing hundreds of millions of dong in damage.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh (living in Ea Kly commune) said her family has more than 1 hectare of wet rice with high productivity. The rice was ripe, so her family had just harvested a little, but the rest was crushed by hail.

“This year’s rice harvest was good, people looked forward to the harvest but ended up empty-handed” – Ms. Lan Anh lamented.