After recent cicada outbreaks in Lâm Đồng, Đắk Nông, and Đắk Lắk, the pest has now spread to Gia Lai Province, causing billions of đồng in losses and leaving coffee farmers with no effective pesticide to control the crisis.
Farmers Facing Heavy Losses
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A Careful Farmer’s Struggle
Hà Văn Lâm (38) of Ia Blứ commune, Chư Sê district, known for his meticulous farming, is watching his seven-sào (0.7 ha) coffee plot decline:
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Leaves yellowing, branches bare, cherries dropping.
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Spent nearly 40 million đồng on chemicals and fertilizer, including two tons of Demax organic fertilizer, with little effect.
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Ve husks litter planting holes.
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Previous yields of three tons of beans may drop to half this season—barely covering labor and fuel costs.
“Now it’s too late even to pull up the trees and replant,” Lâm laments.
A Deafening Plague
Neighbor Lê Văn Tuấn’s two-hectare coffee farm is similarly overrun:
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Shrill cicada chorus at midday.
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Clouds of cicadas burst out when branches are shaken.
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Hundreds of shed nymph shells cling to each tree.
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Dozens of holes appear around trunks, revealing 20+ pale nymphs feeding on the roots.
Tuấn has already spent nearly 20 million đồng on Demax fertilizer without results:
“Some households are hit lightly, some heavily, but there isn’t a coffee field around without cicadas,” he says.
Widespread Infestation
Other farmers reporting heavy damage include:
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Nguyễn Đức Hậu of Ia Le commune (Chư Sê)—five hectares affected.
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Nguyễn Văn Kỳ of Ia Tiêm commune—nearly 20 hectares attacked.
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Thành of HNeng commune (Đăk Đoa district)—three hectares infested.
By mid-August 2009, the Gia Lai Plant Protection Sub-Department estimated 130 hectares of coffee damaged, mainly in Mang Yang district (65 ha). No exact figures yet exist for Chư Sê or the total losses across the province.
Expert Insights: Cicada Biology and Damage
Life Cycle and Feeding
According to Phan Võ Ngọc Quyền of the Gia Lai Center for Irrigation and Agroforestry Research and Experimentation:
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Cicada nymphs emerge at night, climb tree trunks to molt into adults.
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Coffee plants suffer most while insects are underground nymphs, which can live in soil for many years.
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Nymphs suck nutrients from coffee roots, causing yellow leaves, bare branches, and declining yields.
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Trees often become stunted rather than dying outright.
Difficult to Eradicate
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Cicadas have a three-stage life cycle—egg, nymph, adult.
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Most active from April through August.
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Nymphs burrow up to 70 cm deep, making eradication extremely difficult.
Current Control Measures
Farmers and experts are experimenting with:
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Sticky traps treated with chemicals around tree bases to catch nymphs climbing to molt.
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Electric probes to kill underground nymphs.
However, there is still no specific pesticide to control cicadas effectively.
Coffee Root Vulnerability
Coffee feeder roots spread horizontally between 0–40 cm deep, making them especially vulnerable. As nymphs drain nutrients and moisture, the trees show:
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Yellow leaves,
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Premature fruit drop,
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Stunted growth, leading to sharp yield declines.
The cicada outbreak in Gia Lai is the latest and perhaps most severe in a series of infestations across Vietnam’s Central Highlands. With no specific treatment available, farmers face huge economic losses and long-term threats to their coffee plantations. Urgent research and coordinated pest-control strategies are needed to protect the region’s robusta coffee industry and the livelihoods of thousands of farming families.