Proper and adequate care for spring crops

(Baonghean) - Since the 4th day of the Lunar New Year, farmers in many localities in the province have been focusing on the fields to take care of spring crops. The warm weather is favorable for plant growth and development, but difficulties in preventing and controlling pests and diseases and in care, especially for rice plants to avoid early flowering...

On the 5th day of Tet, the golden sunshine spread over the rice fields along the districts: Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai Town, Yen Thanh... In the green rice fields, people went to the fields to weed and fertilize the rice to help it tiller. During the inspection of the agricultural production situation at the beginning of the year, standing in the middle of the immense rice fields of Quynh Luu district, taking the opportunity to share joy with farmers about a warm and happy Tet, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dinh Viet Hong excitedly said: "So right from the beginning of the season, production has been very favorable. The rice plants have developed like this, promising to give a bumper crop!". He also reminded localities not to be subjective. The warm and sunny weather is favorable for recreational activities and festivals at the beginning of the year, but agricultural production must not be neglected, there must be appropriate care measures to prevent the rice from blooming early, which can easily lead to cold and crop failure; it must be noted that this is a favorable weather for pests and diseases to develop; In particular, it is necessary to ensure enough water for rice to grow well, and have measures to use water economically and reasonably to reserve water for production in the next stage.

Farmers in Bac Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) take care of spring rice. Photo: Ho Cac

Currently, 7,450 hectares of spring rice in Quynh Luu district are growing very well. Except for a few areas in semi-mountainous communes such as Quynh Tan and Quynh Van that were planted right after Tet, the remaining rice areas were basically finished before Tet, and some areas in deep, low-lying areas that were planted earlier have completed the first care. According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh, Head of the District Agriculture Department: Right from the 4th day of Tet, people went to the fields to take care of and fertilize the rice plants. The temperature at the beginning of the season was warm, so the rice plants took root as soon as they were planted and grew very quickly, and have now started to tiller. However, if the weather continues to be warm and sunny like this, the rice will likely bloom early, especially in areas that were planted early. “In the area, no pests or diseases have appeared yet, but we still direct localities to coordinate with the plant protection sector to closely monitor the fields to have accurate and timely predictions and forecasts, and at the same time recommend that people regularly visit the fields to detect and handle them as soon as they reach the prevention threshold, paying special attention to rice blast disease, avoiding leaf burn, or not thoroughly handling the leaf blast stage, creating conditions for neck blast to develop, which will be irreversible,” Mr. Dinh shared.

Farmers in Bac Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) take care of spring rice. Photo: HC

This spring crop, Yen Thanh district planted 12,600 hectares of rice. Going to the fields to weed, stir mud, and fertilize the rice since the 4th day of Tet, Ms. Do Thi Lan (Hamlet 5, Hoa Thanh Commune) said: "My family's 4 sao of rice were planted before the Lunar New Year, the weather is warm so the rice is growing well. Although I have not seen any pests in the fields, according to the commune's recommendations, I combine care and pay attention to spraying immediately if pests are detected." Currently in Yen Thanh district, early rice is about to finish tillering, late rice is starting to tiller.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Agriculture Department of Yen Thanh district, the rice plants are growing and developing very well. However, due to the warm weather, the possibility of early flowering is likely to occur, so the district is focusing on directing people to go to the fields to increase early care, provide enough care to ensure nutrition for the rice to grow well, prevent early flowering, and combine with inspection to detect pests and diseases for timely treatment.

This spring crop, the whole province planted 89,700 hectares of rice, exceeding the plan by 3,700 hectares; of which 150 hectares were transplanted by machine and 8,000 hectares were directly sown, mainly in Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Do Luong and Nam Dan districts. According to the general assessment, this is a spring crop with a fairly favorable start, the rice planting area ensured progress and exceeded the plan, most localities finished planting before Tet and people are currently focusing on the fields to take care of the tillering rice.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Lap, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the immediate future, spring crop production still faces some difficulties, requiring proper care. In some localities, farmers sow rice seedlings and go to the fields to plant rice 5-7 days, even 7-10 days earlier than the province's crop calendar. Meanwhile, this year's severe cold came early and ended early, the cold spells were shorter than in previous years, and even during the cold spells, the weather was still warm during the day, so the rice plants grew quickly and easily bloomed early, reducing productivity, especially in areas that were sown early. Farmers need to focus on caring for, weeding, and fertilizing the rice to help the rice tiller early, in large numbers, and in a concentrated manner. Good care, heavy and early fertilization will help the rice plants grow strongly and extend the growing period, helping the rice to bloom properly within a safe time frame.

Regarding pests and diseases, the most likely cause is rice blast fungus. According to the synthesis of the Provincial Plant Protection Department, rice blast has occurred locally and caused mild damage in some areas in Nghi Lien, Hung Hoa, Vinh Tan communes (Vinh City); root nematodes have occurred and caused damage to over 140 hectares of direct-sown rice in Hung Nguyen and Nam Dan. In addition, rats and golden apple snails have also occurred and caused local damage to some rice areas in Vinh City, Quynh Luu, Con Cuong, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong districts... In the coming time, the weather conditions will gradually warm up, alternating with cold air waves, high humidity, accompanied by rain, combined with farmers fertilizing rice to produce tillers, creating favorable conditions for rice blast to occur and cause damage. This is a dangerous disease. In our province, there have been years when the disease occurred and caused severe damage, causing leaf burns and the loss of many spring rice areas; If not prevented well and promptly, in addition to local damage, the disease also leaves residual pathogens, causing neck blast disease, which is much more severe, because at that time, the rice plant no longer has time and ability to recover.

For this disease, special attention should be paid to rice varieties that are susceptible to the disease such as AC5, BC15, Nghi Huong 2308... Localities must regularly visit the fields, accurately and promptly predict the pest situation to have effective treatment measures. In addition, according to experts, in the coming time, brown planthoppers will likely appear on rice plants, farmers need to regularly visit the fields to have appropriate treatment measures according to the recommendations of plant protection officers.

Currently, the water source in the area is still sufficient to meet the needs of spring crop production, however, with the lack of rainfall in 2014, only reaching 60 - 70% of the average of many years, so by the end of the rainy season in 2014, most of the dams' water sources are not guaranteed compared to the design. Currently, localities are focusing on opening water to serve land preparation, planting and rice care, but without additional sources, the water level in dams is decreasing sharply. According to Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh, Deputy Head of the Provincial Irrigation Department, in the immediate future, there will be difficulties in the period of rice heading and flowering, localities and people need to have a plan to use water economically, if the water source is not met but is used indiscriminately, the possibility of drought will very likely occur right from the spring crop and difficulties for summer-autumn production.

Thanh Chuong district planted about 8,200 hectares of rice; including 7,600 hectares of hybrid rice. Previously, localities in the district based on the growth time of each variety to arrange the sowing schedule, at the same time 100% of the seedling area was covered with plastic, ensuring good growth of the seedlings. The district Plant Protection Station has advised farmers to take care of, weed, stir mud, fertilize and monitor the development of pests and diseases to have timely and effective remedial measures. Thanh An is one of the communes with unfavorable rice growing areas, terraced fields, many nooks and crannies, and acid sulfate soil. The whole commune planted about 300 hectares of rice, including Nhi Uu 986, ZZD004, ZZD001 and some other varieties with high yield and few pests and diseases. After Tet, Thanh An Commune People's Committee strengthened the direction of farmers to go to the fields to take care of, fertilize, and spray pesticides to prevent pests and diseases; such as stem borers and leaf rollers to ensure productivity...

Up to now, along with rice, the whole province has also planted 16 thousand hectares of peanuts and 15 thousand hectares of corn. People are currently continuing to plant to ensure the plan of 17 thousand hectares of peanuts and 17 thousand hectares of corn. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Lap, in areas of wet, low land and the crop season has ended, around the 10th day of the first lunar month, that is, around the end of February, people should not sow peanuts anymore but should switch to corn, should not sow too late to avoid peanuts flowering in the southwest wind. Currently, peanuts and corn are growing well, people need to take care of hoeing, weeding, focusing on the first care, especially in areas not covered with plastic, in these warm sunny conditions, it is possible to spray growth stimulants in peanut areas where the soil is wet when sown and growth is poor. On peanuts, there have appeared some types of pests and diseases that cause scattered damage at a mild level. According to forecasts, in the coming time, diseases such as root rot, black mold, gray mold... will cause damage in the coming time. It is necessary to regularly visit the fields to have timely treatment measures, limiting damage to peanut production...

Phu Huong