Dien Chau completes summer-autumn rice planting ahead of schedule.

(Baonghean.vn) -Starting with planting on May 20th, the summer-autumn rice crop in Dien Chau has now been largely completed. This year, the spring rice crop was harvested early, making the summer-autumn production very favorable in terms of timing.

This summer-autumn season, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai's family in Hamlet 10, Dien An Commune, planted 4 sao (approximately 0.4 hectares) of rice. Starting on May 5th, she sowed the seedlings, preparing to transplant them into the fields around May 20th. To date, the entire summer-autumn rice crop has been planted. She happily shared: "This year, the spring rice harvest was early, so we had plenty of time for planting the summer-autumn crop. At this rate, we can harvest by the end of August, avoiding crop failure due to flooding."

Planting summer-autumn rice in Dien An (Dien Chau)

This year's summer-autumn crop production is predicted to face challenging conditions. There is a high risk of pest and disease outbreaks, potentially complex weather patterns, and more frequent storms than in previous years. In particular, the risk of drought is very high due to water levels in reservoirs and dams being significantly lower than in previous years. Therefore, to ensure a safe and efficient production season, Dien Chau district prioritizes the use of short-day varieties with high yield potential and commercial value, and directs planting as early as possible to avoid pests, diseases, and floods at the end of the season. Simultaneously, the district is promoting a shift in crop structure towards commercial production, focusing on establishing an additional large-scale model rice field of over 50 hectares in Dien Cat.

With the goal of achieving 50,580 tons of paddy rice, Dien Chau district planted 9,000 hectares of rice this summer-autumn season, including nearly 3,600 hectares of hybrid rice. According to Mr. Hoang Lan, Deputy Head of the District Agriculture Department, Dien Chau's rice variety structure mainly uses short-day varieties that are resistant to pests, diseases, and unfavorable weather conditions, yielding high, stable productivity and good rice quality. Approximately 35-40% of the area is planted with hybrid rice varieties such as Nhi Uu 986, GS9, Thien Nguyen Uu 16, Syn6, etc., which have a short growing season and good yield potential and rice quality suitable for the summer-autumn season. The remaining area uses purebred rice varieties such as VTNA2, TBR45, and glutinous rice N87. In areas with a longer growing season and high safety standards, the BC15 variety will be used, gradually reducing the area planted with Khang Dan 18.

The planting schedule is based on the harvesting time of the spring crop; however, all summer-autumn rice fields in Dien Chau are striving to be harvested before August 30th to avoid crop failure due to late-season flooding. Therefore, farmers start sowing seedlings 15-20 days after the rice plants flower, instead of waiting until the spring harvest. This is especially true in areas using long-duration rice varieties such as Dien Tho and Dien Thai, where seedlings were sown as early as April 25th.

"To ensure a successful summer-autumn crop, long-duration, high-quality rice varieties like BC15 are only planted in fields that harvest early in the spring, where there is sufficient time and high safety standards. They are absolutely not planted in low-lying areas," Mr. Lan said.

Phu Huong