Strictly follow the crop schedule, focus on cold protection for spring rice seedlings

(Baonghean) - In order to minimize the adverse effects of the weather on the 2015 spring rice crop, localities and people in the province are focusing on preventing cold weather and taking care of seedlings. However, according to hydrometeorological forecasts, the beginning of the crop will be cold but the whole spring crop this year will experience warm weather. If the crop is "far ahead" of the crop schedule, the possibility of early rice flowering and crop failure is very likely to occur. Therefore, agricultural engineers recommend that for the spring crop, it is better to be 1-2 days late, or even 4-5 days, than to plant early, even just 1 day ahead of schedule.

Cover with plastic to keep the seedlings warm.

These days, the weather is cold, but in the fields of Do Luong district, people are still working in the fields, plowing the land, and checking the cold for the seedlings. The joy of the people of Hong Son commune this year is that the commune has re-planned the land, following Directive 08 of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee on land consolidation and plot exchange, which has changed the face of the fields. Present in the field to check and take care of the rice seedlings that have been planted for 10 days, Mr. Nguyen Duc Son in Hamlet 3, Hong Son Commune excitedly said: “This spring crop, my family has more than 3 sao of rice fields. To ensure good growth, high yield and quality, the family follows the crop calendar and seed structure of the cooperative. Placing seedlings at the foot of the field, covering them with plastic to protect them from the wind and fertilizing them with wood ash according to traditional methods not only keeps the seedlings warm but also prevents the roots from breaking when pulling the seedlings out for transplanting. At the same time, fertilizing them fully and balanced will keep the plants healthy and increase their resistance to cold. If the seedlings are well cared for and grow well, they will yield high yields at the end of the season.”

Farmers in Hung Long commune (Hung Nguyen) cover spring rice seedlings with plastic. Photo: T. Le

Being a typical low-lying area of ​​Do Luong district, Hong Son rice fields are often drought-prone and flood-prone. Therefore, the local policy is to plant seeds 5-7 days earlier than the district's crop schedule. In the spring crop of 2015, Hong Son commune planted 171.9 hectares of rice, 42 hectares of corn and 34 hectares of peanuts and other vegetables. The spring crop production plan was propagated by the commune on the commune and hamlet loudspeaker system. At the same time, the commune coordinated with the district Agricultural Extension Station to disseminate technical processes from land preparation, seedling planting, fertilizer, rice planting... so that farmers could fully understand. The commune has proactively provided water for farmers to prepare land, plant seedlings, and coordinated with the Agricultural Supplies Company to lend fertilizer to farmers with deferred payment.

Thanks to the proactive spring crop production plan, the spring crop area in Hong Son is fully covered, with no fallow areas. The commune's main variety is hybrid rice with high yield and quality. To prevent cold for seedlings, ensure good growth, and avoid damage due to weather, the commune advocates 100% of the area for planting seedlings; on the other hand, it directs people to prepare well from the land preparation stage, 100% of the area for planting seedlings must be covered with plastic to both prevent cold and prevent diseases. In addition, the commune directs people to apply manure, straw and ash to keep seedlings warm. The commune's Agriculture Department regularly visits the fields, instructing farmers to implement measures in caring for and preventing cold for young seedlings.

Along with many other localities, these days, farmers in Hung Nguyen district are focusing on the fields for the 2015 spring crop. In the cold weather, but every day, Mrs. Truong Thi Ninh in hamlet 9B, Hung Long commune is present in the rice field that has been planted to regulate water, adding water during the day and draining water at night to keep the rice seedlings warm. “The life of a farmer depends only on a few acres of rice fields. After decades of working on the fields, I am most worried about the erratic weather. Therefore, during the production seasons, my family strictly follows the cooperative's crop schedule and the technical procedures of specialized agencies, from the stages of plowing the soil, cleaning weeds and stubble, fertilizing, and preparing seeds. Especially in cold weather like this, young rice seedlings are very susceptible to freezing, so we must be present in the fields regularly to take care of them, rake the beds to make them high, add manure and phosphate to keep the young rice seedlings warm,” Mrs. Truong Thi Ninh shared.

This spring crop, Hung Nguyen district planted 5,900 hectares of rice, an estimated 400 hectares of corn and 500 hectares of peanuts. At the same time, some areas of highland land used for ineffective rice cultivation in localities such as Hung Yen Nam and Hung Yen Bac were converted to growing vegetables, and pilot planting of Sophora japonica in Hung Yen Nam and Bac. In recent days, the cold air has intensified, the temperature has dropped, and some days are very cold. To proactively prevent and combat the cold for crops, the district People's Committee has directed communes and towns to strictly implement the crop calendar, avoiding early planting. Farmers are instructed to cover the seedlings with plastic after planting to protect them from the cold and prevent pests and diseases from invading.

Mr. Phan Van Truong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hung Nguyen district said: "Localities in the district have directed farmers to regularly check their fields, proactively prevent cold and pests. Based on the specific conditions of each locality to choose the appropriate variety structure, on the same field, only one rice variety is structured to implement the crop calendar well, easy to regulate water, care, and prevent pests. On days below 150C, it is necessary to balance the water level in the field appropriately, when the temperature increases, remove the plastic during the day to let the seedlings absorb light, cover again at night and direct people to absolutely not apply too much fertilizer, which can easily cause fertilizer poisoning to the seedlings".

According to the plan, in the 2015 spring crop, the whole province will plant 86,000 hectares of rice, 18,000 hectares of peanuts, and 17,000 hectares of corn. Drawing on experience from previous crops and assessing the weather conditions, this spring crop, the Department of Agriculture advised the Provincial People's Committee to direct localities to change the appropriate crop structure, converting some ineffective rice growing areas to growing other crops. Therefore, the rice growing area in the whole province will decrease by 4,000 hectares and convert about 5,000 hectares of hybrid rice to pure rice growing with high yield and quality. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development directed localities to base on the situation and characteristics of their localities to have appropriate production plans. In the face of complicated weather developments in recent days, the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have directed localities to deploy plans to prevent and combat cold for crops and livestock. At the same time, establish working groups to inspect production situations in localities to have timely guidance plans.

Through discussion, Mr. Nguyen Van Lap - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: "Right from the beginning of the production season, the department established inspection teams to coordinate with districts to inspect the distribution of seeds, supply of fertilizers, and ensure seeds for farmers. At the same time, advise the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee in charge of the industry to inspect the situation of sowing rice according to the crop schedule. At the same time, the department deployed and directed localities to take proactive measures to prevent and combat cold for crops". Rice plays an important role in agricultural development, timely production, proper fertilization, and measures to keep warm and prevent cold in unfavorable weather conditions are essential for farmers in the province to have a successful spring crop.

Warning of crop failure if ahead of schedule

According to the province's crop calendar, January 5 is the first sowing date of the spring crop, with rice varieties with long growing periods such as AC5, BTE1, while the majority are sown from January 15 to 20. However, by January 13, in the fields of some communes of Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Dien Chau... many AC5 rice fields have grown well, ready to be planted, and many rice fields have even been sown. Meanwhile, according to forecasts, although the beginning of the crop will be cold, the entire spring crop this year will be warm. If the crop is "ahead" of the crop calendar, the possibility of early flowering and crop failure is very likely to occur.

Up to now, the AC5 rice field of Ms. Phan Thi Thuy's family (My Thien hamlet - Nam Cat commune - Nam Dan) has grown green. "According to the crop calendar recommended by the commune, my family's rice sowing time was about 1 week earlier, soaked from around the end of December 2014 and started to move to the north from the beginning of January 2015. I know it's early, but the whole village does it, every year, almost not following the commune's calendar but still having a good harvest, so we just do it based on experience..." - Ms. Thuy said. Looking at the wider field, all over Nam Cat, the land has been prepared, ready for rice planting, most of the rice beds have grown green.

In Hung Thong commune (Hung Nguyen), next to the rows of seedlings covered with plastic, there are rice fields that have turned green, some of which have been sown directly and are starting to sprout green buds. The family of Ms. Tran Thi Que - Hamlet 5 has 4 sao of rice that has been planted. Ms. Que said: "The seedlings were sown 1 month ago. The commune did not allow planting this IR1820 rice variety, but seeing the whole village doing it, I also did it. This rice variety has a normal yield and a long duration but has few pests and diseases, so many households are doing it. Households that grow AC5 varieties have also planted seedlings for ten days now. My family has 4 sao of AC5 and planted seedlings since January 1, many households have even planted AC5 and VTNA2 rice directly for 4-5 days now". Although the district and commune Department of Agriculture has strongly recommended stopping pre-season planting, in many areas, farmers still deliberately do it. If the temperature drops below 100C for 4 - 5 days, this area is at risk of dying.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, by January 12, the whole province had sown more than 1,718 hectares of rice seedlings, of which Dien Chau 238 hectares, Yen Thanh 320 hectares, Nam Dan over 190 hectares, Hung Nguyen 160 hectares... This year, the beginning of spring falls on February 4, which is December 16, 2014 of the lunar calendar. According to the province's production plan, the principle is to ensure that rice differentiates and blooms from April 25 to May 5, and the flooded summer-autumn areas bloom from April 20 to April 25. On that basis, the group of varieties sown from January 5 to 10 includes only a few varieties with a growth period of 140 - 145 days such as AC5, BTE1, the rest are sown from January 15 to 20 and another group has a sowing period from January 20 to 25.

According to forecasts and reality, this year the cold came early but did not last long and then the weather was sunny, warm, dry, and the temperature increased rapidly, causing the rice plants to grow quickly, easily leading to the situation of early rice flowering and encountering the cold of Thanh Minh, causing a crop failure. Therefore, to prevent early rice flowering, it is absolutely not advisable to sow and plant before the crop schedule. Mr. Phan Dinh Ha - Vice Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee said: This spring crop, Thanh Chuong planted 8,000 hectares of rice. In production, working early compared to the crop schedule is always very dangerous, because if the rice flowers bloom right in the cold of Thanh Minh, the light and temperature are low, the pollination process does not take place, the rice grains are easily empty and do not yield. In particular, this year is forecasted to have drought and warm weather, so the rice grows quickly, shortening the growing period, so if the rice is sown and planted early, it will be very dangerous. Therefore, Thanh Chuong focused on directing communes to advise people not to sow rice seedlings before the district's crop calendar, even one day. Any commune that does not do so properly must be held responsible by commune officials before the district. In general, most communes in the district strictly follow the crop calendar and now is the time when people start to concentrate on sowing rice seedlings, expected to be completed about 3-4 days before Tet.

In fact, in previous years, some localities still planted rice before the provincial and district crop calendar but still had a good harvest. Therefore, early sowing and planting has become a "habit" and "experience" of the people. However, in those years, due to the longer cold spell and lower temperatures, the growth of rice seedlings and rice plants was slowed down, and rice still bloomed within the safe time frame, after the Qingming Festival. This year, due to the impact of climate change, the El Nino phenomenon is active in the East Sea. According to the forecast of the National Center for Hydrometeorology, the spring crop is forecast to take place in warm weather conditions, with air temperatures 1 - 1.50C higher than the average of many years. In such conditions, early sowing would be extremely dangerous. Meanwhile, in reality, in some localities, people sow rice 5 - 7 days ahead of the provincial crop calendar, even more than 10 days, and the seedlings are covered with plastic to protect against the cold. If in previous years, the severe cold lasted 10-15 days, even a whole month, this year it lasted less than a week, mostly severe cold at night, dry cold, low humidity. In such conditions, farmers sowed rice seedlings early and covered them with plastic, creating conditions for the seedlings to grow very quickly. The seedlings sown 5-7 days earlier than the crop schedule now have 2.5-3 leaves. If they are transplanted, the rice will likely bloom early because according to forecasts, severe cold will rarely occur from now on.

According to agricultural engineer Doan Tri Tue - Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Company, for the spring crop, it is better to delay 1 - 2 days, even 4 - 5 days, than to plant 1 day earlier than the season. Except for production areas on deep muddy soil, low soil temperature (cold soil), the growth period of rice plants is often 5-7 days longer than other areas, so it is necessary to plant old seedlings. Otherwise, to overcome the above problem, avoid the possibility of crop failure, localities need to focus on checking, reviewing, and re-evaluating the sown seedlings to have appropriate treatment measures. Areas where seedlings have started to be sown still use nylon to prevent cold; fields where seedlings have 2.5 - 3 leaves, meaning they are sown 5 - 7 days or more earlier than the crop schedule, need to direct the sowing of additional seedlings to replace them; For areas of seedlings sown 2-3 days early, currently with less than 2 leaves, when the weather has turned warm, farmers should remove the plastic to limit the growth of seedlings, avoid transplanting old seedlings. In addition, because the weather during the spring crop is expected to be warm and sunny, the growth period of rice plants will be shortened, so it is necessary to focus on intensive investment right from the time of sowing, carefully prepare the soil, and fertilize sufficiently and early so that the rice plants can concentrate on early and quick calving to avoid late-season cold, leading to crop failure.

Thanh Le - Phu Huong