Arousing people's strength to do irrigation

(Baonghean) - On May 21, 2001, the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee issued Resolution No. 02 NQ/TU on irrigation for industrial crops, fruit trees, color crops and aquaculture, promoting the solidification of canals. The Resolution stated: "From now on, October 16 is the day to mobilize cadres, civil servants, party members and people in the whole province to participate in irrigation, opening the annual irrigation movement". Since then, October 16 has become a festival day for the whole people to join in irrigation in the area.

Students of Quynh Luu 3 High School participate in irrigation work at canal N26.

In 2014, although the province-wide campaign was not organized, the Provincial People's Committee continued to issue instructions to educate cadres, party members, and people about the effectiveness of irrigation for industrial crops, fruit trees, and crops, and for aquaculture, and to solidify canals, thereby raising awareness of initiative, promoting internal strength, and avoiding the mentality of waiting and relying. Review the flood and storm prevention plan, closely monitor information and weather developments to store water in appropriate reservoirs, and proactively respond to all situations. Once the flood and storm prevention plan has been approved, the flood and storm prevention command committee is required to have an implementation plan according to the approved plan. Strictly manage water resources, prevent leakage and loss, use water economically, and increase the use of scientific irrigation methods; Organize dredging of canals, sluice gates, irrigation pumping stations, ponds and wells, clear the flow, build dams to prevent salinity, dig and build reservoirs, small tanks, wells, develop pumping networks to irrigate tea, coffee, rubber, grass... Organize the repair of works, dams, do internal irrigation, continue to implement the program of solidifying canals, internal traffic combined with land conversion, building new rural areas. Localities encourage people to participate in public service...

The districts of Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, Do Luong, Quynh Luu, Tan Ky... are the localities that have successfully implemented Resolution 02/TU for many years. Recognizing the necessity and great effectiveness of the movement, each locality has had effective ways of doing it.

Present in Nghia Dong commune (Tan Ky) these days, in the fields there is a bustling atmosphere of competition to do irrigation work associated with reorganizing the fields to ensure each household has only one field. Loudspeakers are brought to the fields to propagate and disseminate. Female farmers serve more drinking water; village and commune cadres actively work with the people. Comrade Nguyen Van Trong, head of village 11, is rolling up his pants to dredge and build the banks of the fields and said: Receiving the policy of the District Party Committee, the commune Party Committee, the village has approved the Front, residential groups, and organizations and mobilized 100% of the force to go to the fields to do irrigation for dozens of days now. Every day in the fields, the force of 740 - 750 people/total population of 800 people of the village is maintained. The current excavation and embankment volume has reached more than 4,000m3 of topsoil; people have both dredged the canal and built large banks associated with land conversion. The hamlet chief of hamlet 11, Nghia Dong commune, added: The hamlet executive committee analyzed for the people to clearly understand the policy and benefits of irrigation combined with land redistribution to create conditions for mechanization. The hamlet issued a policy clearly defining the responsibilities and obligations of each committee, each group, team, and each household. In addition to contributing working days, people also paid an additional 200,000 VND/household to mobilize more machines to level the fields, creating conditions for water to be available everywhere. The hamlet's goal this time is to mobilize 100% of the workforce, build Roc Ngoi road and canals. The hamlet has 64 hectares of production land, divided equally to each household with only one plot. In each field area such as Dong Cam, Dong Rao, Cay Gao... the people of hamlet 11 have expanded new roads and canals.

In Nghia Dong commune, hamlets held additional military-civilian conferences to unify the resolution, then the secretary, hamlet chief, deputy hamlet chief, and the comrades who headed the commune's agricultural committee organized a meeting with the people. Hamlet officials assigned 3 more households to set up stakes, study road openings, and ditch openings, so that everyone could easily access their fields. "Based on the technical process of land consolidation, we raised or lowered the roads. Through this irrigation project, hamlet cadres also expanded their knowledge and accumulated experience," commented comrade Tran Van Nga - Head of the commune's agricultural committee. Obviously, wherever the mass mobilization work was done well, the movement was always maintained and developed, becoming more substantial and effective until the following year, and the participants in the movement also felt that their efforts were not wasted. Comrade Nguyen Van Minh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Nghia Dong commune was excited: With the participation of the entire political system, from the commune down to the hamlet, the emulation in implementing the movement was very high. From the effectiveness of hamlets 1 and 2 with "one plot per house", Nghia Dong is vigorously implementing so that 13 hamlets have 100% households with only "one plot per house" and the fields are even and beautiful. Similarly, in Tien Ky, Tan Hop, Giai Xuan, Ky Son... communes of Tan Ky, the communes have organized people to do irrigation. Comrade Nguyen Van Ba, Secretary of the Tien Ky Commune Party Committee, said: This year, although the district did not organize a district-level campaign, the commune launched it on October 11, from which the volume was assigned to the hamlets to complete until the end of December.

Farmers in Vinh Tan commune, Vinh city build internal roads.

In Quynh Luu district, the locality at the end of the North Nghe An self-flowing irrigation system, irrigation work has long been of interest. Implementing Resolution 02/TU, the irrigation movement every year is always more exciting and goes deeper than the previous year. Comrade Le Thanh Nhan - Standing Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee said: "Every year, implementing the policy of the District Party Committee, the District People's Committee establishes a Steering Committee, assigns planning targets to each locality and unit; at the same time, assigns Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise as the focal point to proactively monitor and connect with units and communes to organize the launching ceremony of dredging irrigation canals, cleaning sewers and fields according to specific times..." With methodical implementation solutions, Quynh Luu has mobilized a large number of students and soldiers to participate, with about 9,000 people each year. This year is the same, wherever we go, we witness the enthusiastic atmosphere of irrigation work with the highlight being the very active participation of students. Quynh Luu District mobilized students from Quynh Luu 3 High School in collaboration with Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise to dredge the N26 irrigation canal. Previously, Nguyen Duc Mau High School was the first unit to do the work on October 15, followed by Cu Chinh Lan High School, 215th Armored Brigade... Through the launch, the agencies and units have completed a volume worth about 265 million VND. To Ba Truyen, a 12th grade student from Quynh Luu 3 High School, said: "This is the third year I have participated in irrigation work initiated by the school. This extracurricular activity helps us love work more and gain more experience when participating in community assistance activities." Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phuong - Party Cell Secretary, Principal of Quynh Luu 3 High School, said: Thanks to good preparation, this year the school mobilized nearly 100% of the total 1,500 students to participate. Before receiving, teachers coordinated to organize surveys and calculations to assign to each block and class. In addition, Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise assigned staff to closely follow up to provide technical guidance, combined with inspection and review of irrigation canals to increase efficiency. Comrade Dang Ngoc Binh - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee affirmed: "Resolution 02 is one of the policies that has entered life and created the most obvious changes. The participation of people not only supports and shares with the Irrigation sector but also makes people see the practical benefits of irrigation water, drainage, and environmental cleaning".

After 14 years of implementing Resolution 02 of the Provincial Party Committee, the irrigation movement has been widely deployed and brought about practical meanings. According to the report of the Irrigation Sub-Department, although it has just been launched this year, 7 irrigation companies in the province have participated very actively and achieved good results, including the Southern irrigation region, which has completed 90-95% of the plan due to early implementation; nearly half of the districts, towns and cities have held launching ceremonies. From now until November 30, 2014, the remaining districts that have not launched will continue to complete the content of the plan assigned by the province. However, reality has shown that there are still limitations that need to be overcome. That is, the movement is strong in the irrigation stage to serve watering rice fields, but there has not been a significant change in irrigation serving fruit trees, industrial trees and color trees. Localities have formed a routine and movement for irrigation, but some places still rely on irrigation enterprises and state projects. In addition, some localities are in areas with difficult irrigation and if the dry season lasts for a long time, there is often drought or risk of saltwater intrusion, but the movement to launch irrigation and environmental sanitation is not drastic. Some localities and units have launched the movement in a formal manner, without specific plans and programs, lacking organizational plans, so the number of people mobilized to participate is not much; in particular, some localities have no reports, so the province does not know the implementation results. Therefore, in order for Resolution 02/TU to continue to enter life in a more orderly and effective way, districts, units, and agricultural sectors need to organize to summarize experiences, good practices, and be flexible in mobilizing people and machinery, while raising awareness about the effectiveness of irrigation for industrial crops and fruit trees.

Chau Lan - Nguyen Hai