Strictly follow the crop calendar and variety structure.

(Baonghean) - If following the crop calendar, our province will start sowing spring rice seedlings on January 5th. At the same time, in the variety structure, the Department of Agriculture also guides localities not to structure low-yield varieties, heavily infected with pests and diseases such as IR1820, IR17497 (February 13). However, for nearly 2 weeks now, in many areas of some localities such as Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan... plastic covers for seedlings have been spread all over the fields, with rice varieties that do not follow the recommendations.

Having been sown for over a week now, the rice seedlings of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy's family (Hamlet 6, Hung Dao - Hung Nguyen) have grown quite well. While pulling the plastic sheet around the rice seedlings, she shared: "My family's two sao of rice fields are located in a low-lying area, so far we have only grown one spring crop, and for the summer-autumn crop, we have to let the rice die, and we don't dare to invest in planting because it is often flooded". Like every year, this spring crop, Ms. Thuy continues to use the Xi23 rice variety, sowing the seedlings very early compared to the province's crop calendar, because according to her, in this area we can only plant long-term rice varieties, and sow the seedlings early so that when transplanted, the seedlings are big and strong, and are not flooded. This rice variety also yields 2.5 - 3 quintals/sao, the seed price is cheaper, the rice is also delicious, and it is also resistant to cold.

People in Hung Dao commune (Hung Nguyen) prepare the land for the spring crop. Photo: Cong Sang

Chairman of Hung Dao Commune People's Committee - Mr. Phan Dinh Hanh said: Hung Dao is one of the most low-lying areas of Hung Nguyen district. The whole commune has approximately 500 hectares of spring rice, of which about 200 hectares are often flooded. Therefore, although at first they did not intend to introduce Xi23 rice variety, but given the conditions, the commune decided to introduce this rice variety to nearly 20 hectares of low-lying areas in hamlet 6A. And while 90% of Hung Dao's rice area is sown directly, this area is sown early by the people for transplanting. According to Mr. Hanh, if spring crop production cannot be harvested in time for the small-season floods, this tall, hard rice variety is needed to avoid flooding, affecting productivity. In the spring of 2013, Hung Dao tested planting 10 hectares of BQ regenerated rice variety of Thai Binh Seed Company in this low-lying area, but storm No. 2 came right at the rice flowering stage, causing the entire area to collapse and almost no harvest. At the same time, through many years of production, the long-term rice variety Xi23 not only withstands floods well, but also shows very good cold tolerance, so people still choose to plant old rice seedlings to harvest at the same time as other short-term rice varieties.

In Nghi Loc, the locality has a large area of ​​rice seedlings sown, Mr. Nguyen Phu Dong - an official of the district's Agriculture Department said: In the spring crop, because sowing and planting are often associated with the custom of Lunar New Year holidays, the district resolutely directs localities not to let farmers do it at the wrong time. However, Nghi Loc has a large area of ​​​​fertile land and low-lying areas along the river, without proactive water supply, the district advocates introducing Xi23 and AC5 rice varieties for early spring crop planting, sowing and planting before Lunar New Year. Accordingly, the early spring crop with Xi23 and NX30 varieties starts sowing from December 5 to 10, and hybrid rice varieties BTE1 and AC5 are sown from December 25 to 30. Currently, the rice seedlings are growing quite well.

Thus, it can be clearly seen that, like previous years, this year's spring crop in some localities continues to sow rice seedlings earlier than the province's crop calendar, and rice varieties not included in the direction of the agricultural sector are still being planted. According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, by December 23, the whole province had about 100 hectares of seedlings sown, enough to plant over 3,000 hectares of rice, concentrated in Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan districts and a few in Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu. The above localities have the old varieties that the agricultural sector has recommended not to plant such as IR1820, IR17497 (February 13), Xi23. These are old, long-term rice varieties, with varieties like IR1820, if the weather is cold for a long time, the growing period can be up to 165 - 180 days. Due to the long duration, it will lead to difficulties in regulating water for local production, and pests and diseases are likely to arise and cause damage, because if new rice varieties are planted, it is currently the winter dormancy period, but with long-term varieties, in order to be able to bloom and harvest within the same time frame as other rice varieties, it is necessary to plant seedlings early, so the time for pests and diseases to be destroyed is less.

However, according to Mr. Tu Trong Kim (Head of the Department of Crop Production - Department of Agriculture and Rural Development), the most dangerous thing is that these rice varieties have not been structured or recommended for planting for decades, so the units producing and supplying seeds as well as the management agencies no longer direct, organize the restoration and production of seeds of the right grade. The seeds put into use are all left by farmers, completely degraded in quality, while in theory, a seed reduced by one grade will reduce about 15% of its yield. Not only that, the consequence is that in some localities such as Hung Dao (Hung Nguyen), Nghi Van (Nghi Loc) ... there has been a phenomenon of farmers following the "movement", sowing rice seedlings for the main spring varieties such as BC15, AC5. And if with long-term rice varieties, even though the seedlings appear early, the flowering and harvesting time still coincides with the short-term varieties that are planted later, then these rice varieties will flower earlier, especially if the weather is warm, it will be very easy to flower in late March, early April, almost every year there is cold, affecting productivity.

However, in reality, except for a few areas where farmers arbitrarily sow other rice varieties following the "trend" along with long-term rice varieties, it must be seen that most of the long-term rice varieties that have been sown early are for planting in low-lying areas, which have their own difficulties and cannot exploit high productivity. Besides the conservative thinking, production based on farmers' experience, it must also be recognized that this is the most suitable way that people see at this time. Although there may be some varieties that can be introduced as replacements such as AC5, BC15... with a growth period of 145 days, can be planted before Tet, strong plants, delicious rice, and good yield, but to be completely suitable for the cultivation conditions in these areas, farmers have not yet been assured to accept. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of agricultural production in these areas considered “special”, it is necessary for the specialized sector to pay attention, delimit the area, and from there research to find more suitable and advanced varieties to replace the old long-term rice varieties. While this is not possible, it is necessary to organize the selection and production of currently used varieties to ensure quality, create conditions and guide people to use high-quality varieties, recommended for planting, instead of using “self-preserved” varieties as is currently the case.

Cong Sang - Phu Huong