Night planting "runs" the heat

(Baonghean) - The heat has reached its peak in the past few days, disrupting people's lives. To avoid the scorching heat, local farmers have had to work at night with lights on to ensure they are on time for the harvest.

On the last nights of May, the rice fields of Yen Thanh district are always lit by flashlights like a lantern festival. After dinner, starting at 7pm, farmers go out to the fields to plant rice. With flashlights hanging over their heads, the halo diameter is only about 1m, but the people here still plant rice in straight rows. The bright spots on the fields that night reflect the hard work and hardship of the farmers in the harshness of nature. However, those bright spots show the creativity and diligence of the people to overcome difficulties to plant rice in time for the season.

The first place we visited was Hoa Thanh commune, where Ms. Nguyen Thi Quy, from Chu Trac hamlet, was quickly planting rice. She confided: “During the day, the sun is terrible. We have to get up at 3-4am to go plant rice, but after 8am, the heat is unbearable. Some people tried to work and fainted right in the field when the sun rose. Even buffaloes and cows refused to go to the field. Once they were “hit”, they jumped into the river or canal to soak in the water... We had no choice but to wear lamps to plant rice at night. Planting rice like this is also difficult.” Ms. Chu Thi Tu, from the neighboring field, said: “Since the war, to avoid American planes, farmers had to plant rice at night. Now, to avoid the sun, they have to wear lamps to plant rice at night. It is true that running away from the sun is like running away from the enemy. If the heat continues, all the summer-autumn crops will be ruined.”

The whole family went to the field to plant rice at night.

In Van Thanh commune, lights are on all over the fields. Mr. Nguyen Van and his wife are planting in Nghe field and confide: “During the day, the sun is scorching hot, we cannot go out to the field to plant tissue. Planting at night is cool, productive and we can use the day to do other work at home. All we need is a headlamp to plant. If we did not plant at night like this, we would not know when the whole field would be finished.”

Planting at night to avoid the heat and also helps farmers make the most of their family's human resources. Many families have children who are in school, and at night they go to the fields to help their parents plant rice. Or some families have a husband or wife who works in a garment factory during the day, but at night the husband still plows and the wife plants. Many households also bring radios and cassette players to place on the banks of the fields to listen to music, creating a joyful atmosphere during the harvest season; many groups of people also sing, sing Vi and Giam to each other, very happily...

Yen Thanh students work night shift to help their parents.

Mr. Nguyen Khac Duc, Vice Chairman of Hoa Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: "In the past few days, to avoid the heat, people have proactively planted rice at night, so more than 200 hectares of summer-autumn rice in the commune have basically been closed, in time for the season. On the nights of planting, the atmosphere in the village is lively and bustling. From that activity, many couples have become husband and wife..." Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Department of Agriculture of Yen Thanh District, said that thanks to night rice planting, Yen Thanh District is now gradually planting rice on time. "The summer-autumn rice area of ​​Yen Thanh is 12,200 hectares. Thanks to people proactively planting rice at night, we have basically planted 10,500 hectares. The remaining area belongs to drought-stricken communes that cannot regulate water such as: Ma Thanh, Tien Thanh, Tan Thanh, Quang Thanh, we have a plan to change the crop structure in drought-stricken areas".

Not only Yen Thanh district but also many other localities such as Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen... people have also chosen to do agricultural production at night to avoid the heat. Thanks to that "initiative", the summer-autumn rice area of ​​the province's low-lying districts has basically closed.

Article and photos:Tien Dung