Just one night, heavy rain and strong wind brought star anise trees to many gardens from decades to more than 50 years old in Lang Son Province down, making garden owners feel depressed.
The rain and thunderstorm on the night of April 21 to April 22 not only blew off the roofs of many families' houses but also destroyed decades-old star anise gardens in the area.
A local resident, Trieu Thi Thuy in Tan Doan commune, said that each anise tree must be planted at least 10 years before it can be harvested. However, after just one night, all trees in her gardens were fallen down.
As for Ms. Hoang Thi Tam also in Tan Doan Commune, trees in her family's anise garden were more than 50 years old and were destroyed by a tornado on the night of April 21 and early morning of April 22, causing more than 50 trees to be uprooted. As per her family’s initial estimation, they suffered a loss of more than VND100 million. This is a big loss to farmers.
Ms. Tam shared that each star anise tree generates a total revenue of about VND2 million annually. Large anise trees yield nearly VND 10 million a year. Families in the commune not only suffer loss of revenue in this year's flower crop, but also their income in the coming years will be no longer because it takes ten years that star anise trees can bloom to harvest.
According to Ms. Tam, currently, the price of fresh anise flowers sold at the garden is about VND30,000- VND40,000 per kg while dried flowers fetch nearly VND 100,000 per kg. In Tan Doan commune, many star anise trees in gardens collapsed and house roofs were blown off.
From April 17 to April 22, many places in the northern mountainous region experienced hail and thunderstorms, and many trees fell.
In the capital city of Hanoi, the thunderstorm on the evening of April 20 also caused nearly 400 trees to fall.
According to updates of the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention as of the morning of April 23, thunderstorms, cyclones, and hail in the Northern region have caused nearly 8,900 houses to be damaged and 1,760.56 hectares of rice and crops were destroyed.
According to the People's Committee of Van Quan District, the total area of star anise trees in this locality is about 14,500 hectares; about 11,000 hectares are being harvested, and the average yield is 2-2.5 tons a ha. The total annual output is about 20,000-30,000 tons of fresh star anise.
Van Quan is the district that grows the most anise in Lang Son province and star anise is the brand and specialty of this province. In Van Quan District, star anise trees are grown in many communes such as Yen Phuc, Binh Phuc, An Son, Trang Phai, Tan Doan, and Lien Hoi.
