China News Service, Hubei Zigui, August 25th: Zigui, Hubei: Orange farmers carry out self-rescue production to fight drought and ensure income
Reporter Guo Xiaoying
In the early morning of the 25th, in Wangjiaqiao Village, Shuitianba Township, Zigui County, Hubei Province, in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, the orange farmer Kou Yourun had no time to sleep.
She picked up the water pump and went to the pond to pump water to "feed" the citrus trees that had been struggling for days in the scorching sun.
Due to the rare drought, the fruit trees of Kou Yourun's 10-mu orange orchard could not resist the long-term scorching of the sun, and faced reduced production.
Wangjiaqiao Village, located in the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, is a village with a national characteristic industry of 100 million yuan. The citrus planting area is nearly 7,000 mu, and almost every family of more than 1,200 farmers in the village grows citrus.
Today, the orangery suffers an unprecedented "roasting" experience.
Citrus fruit cracks due to high temperature and lack of water.
Photo by Guo Xiaoying
Data from the Zigui County Water Conservancy and Lakes Bureau shows that up to now, the county has been experiencing continuous drought for more than 100 days, and the number of high-temperature days is the longest since the county established the meteorological observatory in 1961 to have observation data. Shuitianba, where Wangjiaqiao Village is located Severe drought has formed in 6 townships including the township.
"If the drought continues like this, the fruit will lose water and fall, and the orange tree will wither." Kou Yourun said as he broke off an orange branch, only to see that the leaves were curled and withered, and she gently touched the leaf stem. With a twist, the leaves fall off.
"At this time in the past, the diameter of the fruit was more than 60 (millimeters), you see, it's only more than 50 now, or even less than that." Kou Yourun pointed to the oranges on the tree and said that the diameter of the fruit was generally smaller than the same period in previous years. The fruit even cracked due to high temperature and lack of water.
It is understood that Zigui County has been experiencing drought and little rainfall since May.
At present, the effective water storage capacity of the county's reservoirs is less than 7.4692 million cubic meters, accounting for only 10% of the normal storage capacity.
Affected by the drought, the production of most crops in the county was reduced, and the drought-affected crops affected an area of 15,206 hectares.
Villagers pump water from the river ditch at the foot of the mountain to irrigate the farmland.
Photo by Guo Xiaoying
In Wangjiaqiao Village, many orange farmers are actively carrying out production and self-help to fight drought and ensure harvest.
Under the scorching sun, the machines roared in the small river ditch at the foot of the mountain, and the orange farmers were seizing the opportunity to pump water to irrigate the orangery.
"The river dried up half a month ago, and the water was released from the reservoir above." Hu Jing, secretary of the Party branch of Wangjiaqiao Village, said that there are two reservoirs, Qinghaoyu and Caochiping, near the village. It's almost bottomed out.
The village adopts the method of water supply in different periods and scientifically dispatches water; villagers install simple water pumps spontaneously, and take measures such as storage, diversion, pumping, and lifting, and strive to accumulate drought-resistant water sources to "quench their thirst" for the orangery.
In addition to agricultural irrigation water, Wangjiaqiao Village adopts staggered peak, time-based and time-limited water supply methods to ensure residents' domestic water supply.
The reporter saw at the home of villager Kou Daxin that a large tank in the backyard was full of water.
He told reporters that the water was brought to the house after the village coordinated the release of water from the reservoir. The water in the tank can be used by the old couple for several days. They wash their clothes with the water after washing their faces every day, and then flush the toilet or irrigate the vegetables in the yard. waste.
Facing the persistent drought, Zigui County has carried out a series of drought relief work to ensure the safety of water supply in rural areas.
At present, the county has launched a level III emergency response to drought, and a total of 180 drought-resisting teams with nearly 2,000 people have been organized into drought-resistance work; each township has successively provided about 450,000 meters of water pipes, built and maintained 5,965 meters of temporary emergency diversion channels, and maintained 2,125 drought-resistant pools. , invested 2,700 water trucks; the masses spontaneously invested more than 30 million yuan in drought-relief facilities and equipment.
Hu Kaijin, an orange farmer in Wangjiaqiao Village, told reporters that the most important thing now is to "protect the trees". Now that the river is dry and the reservoir is tight, he discussed with several villagers to lay more than 3,000 meters of drought-resistant water pipes and buy some power generation. Machines and pumps are used to pump water from the Zhaxi River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, to fight drought.
"The tree must be preserved. If the fruit tree cannot be preserved, the loss will be even greater." Hu Jing said, the orange tree is the hope of the orange farmers.
(Finish)