Drought prevention solutions in Quynh Luong

(Baonghean) - In the early days of June, despite the scorching heat, throughout the fields of Quynh Luong commune (Quynh Luu), green onions, mustard greens, tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes... are still surprisingly lush. That is thanks to the crops being guaranteed water from wells drilled and dug right at the foot of the fields, which is a way for vegetable growers in Quynh Luong to protect their crops from drought.

For the people of Quynh Luong, every inch of land is more precious than gold. There is no empty space here, from small garden corners, or next to paths to vast fields, people have used all of it to grow vegetables. For decades, vegetables such as mustard greens, green onions, kohlrabi, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, squash, watermelon, etc. have been the main source of income for the people of Quynh Luong. Almost every household in this countryside grows vegetables and has created the Quynh Luong vegetable brand that is consumed throughout the domestic market. On this seemingly infertile sandy land, the trees are still green all year round. The land is rotated in a closed production cycle all year round without rest, to the point that it is difficult to find weeds growing.

Mrs. Hoa and her daughter were harvesting green onions, happily saying: “We never worry about drought, the more dry and hot it is, the harder it is to grow, the more expensive Quynh Luong green vegetables are. Here, every family digs 1-2 wells at the foot of the field, and pumps water regularly every day for the vegetables. The family grows 4 sao, each season grows green vegetables all year round in the field, this summer we have to water twice a day to ensure the vegetables grow well. Now watering does not require carrying each bucket like before, just plug in the power and the pump will draw up the water, we have to move around to water the vegetables evenly. Thanks to the guaranteed water source during the dry season, my family still has vegetables to harvest continuously. Up to now, with nearly 40 years of experience growing vegetables, since before 1990, my family has dug wells in the field to get water to water the vegetables, so there has never been a year when the vegetables have withered because of drought.”

People water their crops from wells at the foot of their fields.

Mr. Ho Lam Thong's family in hamlet 3 is one of the long-time vegetable growers in Quynh Luong, since the 1970s, at that time the vegetable growing movement was not as strong as it is now. Mr. Thong still clearly remembers that each house had a fresh water well for drinking, but every day he had to carry water from home to the field to water the vegetables, which was very hard. At that time, Mr. Thong had 300m2 of land to grow kohlrabi, cabbage, and green onions. In the hot summer, every morning he had to carry up to 40 loads of water from his well to the field to water the vegetables, which was exhausting. In 1993, the locality had national electricity grid, Mr. Thong immediately dug a well in the field, brought electricity to the field to serve the convenient watering pump, reducing labor.

With favorable irrigation water, his family expanded the vegetable growing area to 500m2. By 1997, realizing that growing vegetables brought high income, the locality completely abandoned the rice growing area and switched to growing vegetables for sale, supplying green vegetables to the provincial market. Mr. Thong's family also gradually expanded the vegetable growing area to 6 sao, working all year round without letting the land rest, increasing the rotation production area from 18 - 20 sao/year, harvesting more than 40 tons of vegetables and tubers/year, including kohlrabi, cabbage, carrots, mustard greens, squash, tomatoes, watermelons..., with a low profit of 70 - 80 million VND/year. Up to now, Mr. Thong has 3 wells at the foot of the field, no matter how hot and dry the summer is, it still ensures irrigation water for the family's 5 - 6 sao of vegetables, thanks to which vegetables are sold all year round, increasing the value of crops, reducing labor for family members.

Quynh Luong commune has a tradition of vegetable production since the 1960s. At that time, self-sufficiency was the main production method, and every year, they mainly produced winter vegetables. They could not grow vegetables in the summer because there was no water source for irrigation. Mr. Nguyen Van Tue - Vice Chairman of Quynh Luong Commune People's Committee said: In 1993, the national grid began to be available in the locality. The commune invested in power lines to the foot of the fields to facilitate the use of water pumps for irrigation. The whole commune has more than 1,000 households growing vegetables. Up to now, local people have dug more than 1,000 wells at the foot of the fields to provide year-round irrigation for crops. Each well is 5-6m deep. For Quynh Luong, the more drought there is, the higher the income of vegetable growers because people can overcome droughts, ensure irrigation water, and summer vegetables still grow well. There has never been a drought thanks to the well system at the foot of the fields. The whole commune has a cultivated area of ​​nearly 200 hectares specializing in growing vegetables, with a planting area of ​​about 800 hectares/year, the total output of vegetables of all kinds reaches 17,000 - 18,000 tons/year, bringing the total value of harvest from growing vegetables to about 80 billion VND/year.

Sticking to the land, knowing how to exploit the potential of the poor sandy soil, enriching the land, the people of this countryside have made visitors from all over admire the new rural appearance and the infrastructure of the people which is no different from the city. Digging wells to irrigate vegetables is a valuable experience for vegetable and industrial crop growing areas to learn to ensure that crops do not die in the hot season.

Quynh Lan