The consecutive cold snaps experienced in the northern region has killed many head of cattle and meteorologists are concerned that the catastrophic cold weather, which occurred in 2008, will also cause havoc this winter.
Bui Van Quang, deputy chairperson of the Pac Nam District, Bac Kan northeastern province, said on Wednesday, 50 cattle were found dead in the district’s communes, which include Nhan Mon, Cao Tan, Cong Bang and An Thang.
At night, the temperature dropped to only 5 degrees Celsius and many areas experienced frost, which caused damage to vegetable crops, he said.
Concerning about the record cold weather of 2008 repeating itself this year, the district People’s Committee has instructed village leaders to tell their residents, to stockpile grass and straw. This will be used as cattle food in case of further bad weather.
Meanwhile, the Bac Kan Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have instructed farmers to move their cattle to other districts, such as Ba Be and Thach Thong. This is in order to take shelter from the cold weather.
Authorized organizations in other northern provinces like Lao Cai, Lai Chau, and Son La, where sometimes extremely cold weather develops, have told farmers to take precautionary measures, like providing temporary shelter, in order to protect their cattle.
Tran Van Khan, deputy director of the Cao Bang Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that it was difficult to protect the cattle from cold weather in Nguyen Binh, Thong Nong and Bao Lam districts as several farmers there still leave their cattle unattended, without any protection or food sources.
In the winter of 2008, the damage bill was put at over VND400 billion (US$21 million), with 52,000 head of cattle dying, and well as 146,000 hectares of rice and 9,500 hectares of rice seedlings destroyed.
Cold weather to be worst in January, February
According to the National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center, the undue cold weather this winter will continue into January and February.
It is predicted that in January only, another four to five cold fronts will affect the northern region, with average temperatures forecast to be only 15 degrees Celsius.
In other regions of the country, the average temperature is likely to be 0.5-1 degree Celsius lower than that in previous years’ same period.
