Ky Son: Hope to receive more corn seed support

(Baonghean) - Following the mountain road along the Nam Mo River that divides the Vietnam - Laos border, we entered the poor commune of Muong Ai. The whole commune has 6 villages with 393 households of the Kho Mu, Mong and Thai ethnic groups living together. The poverty rate of the commune is over 68%. For a long time, the people's lives have depended entirely on agriculture, mainly growing corn and upland rice, with the wet rice area being only nearly 58 hectares.

This year, farmers in the commune planted 2.2 tons of hybrid corn seeds from support under Program 30a and 135/CP in late March and early April on an area of ​​27 hectares. But up to now, the entire corn area has withered and stunted due to the heat and prolonged drought. Looking at the corn field drying in the harsh sun, Mrs. Lu Me Ky in Xop Lau village could only sigh. On an area of ​​0.3 hectares, every year she grows hybrid corn and earns 600 kg. This corn is both sold for money and used as animal feed. But this year, although it has been planted for more than 2 months, the corn field has grown very slowly, the leaves have begun to wither. Mrs. Ky said: "Due to lack of water, even if the corn flowers, there will be no okra. This crop will definitely fail."

Farmers in Muong Ai commune (Ky Son) harvested corn that had died and wilted due to the heat to use as animal feed.

This season, Mr. Cut Pho Diem's ​​cornfield is also considered a total loss. When we arrived, he and his wife were pulling out stunted, dead, and wilted corn plants to feed their cows. He said that last year's corn crop, the family harvested 7 tons, sold it for living expenses and children's education, and partly used it as animal feed. This year, he planted more than 10 kg of corn seeds nearly 3 months ago and up to this point, it can be confirmed that it is a total loss, with no harvest. "Corn is the main source of income, but now the crop is failing. So many things depend on it. Our family doesn't know how to make ends meet in the coming time," Mr. Diem worried.

Talking to us, Mr. Cut Pho Di, Vice Chairman of Muong Ai Commune People's Committee said: "Corn is the main crop of farmers. Almost every household grows it. For many years, corn cultivation has brought stable income to people and has had a great impact on hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the locality. But this year, according to statistics, the entire corn area was damaged due to prolonged heat and drought, so it is predicted that in the coming time, people's already difficult lives will become even more difficult."

Similarly, in Huu Kiem commune, the local authorities and people are also very worried because of the prolonged heat. According to our investigation, the entire area of ​​78 hectares, mainly planted in the villages of Ba, Hom, Na Luong 1, Na Luong 2, was also burned to death, with leaves gradually falling off. For farmers in these villages, corn is the main crop, bringing in the main income and also contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction like farmers in many other communes in Ky Son. Statistics from the commune show that in the 2014 corn crop, each corn-growing household had an average income of 15 million VND, the highest household had an income of up to 90 million VND from selling commercial corn. Mr. Kha Van Quyen, Chairman of the People's Committee of Huu Kiem Commune, could not hide his worry: "If the weather had been normal, by this time, the entire corn area would have entered the harvest season. But this year the weather has been too dry, the entire corn area has been lost, causing great economic losses. Currently, we are mobilizing people to prepare the land to wait for rain to be able to sow the summer-autumn rice crop to ensure food security. However, the greatest wish of the commune and the people is to be supported with corn seeds so that when the weather conditions are favorable, they can sow and plant again."

According to the plan, this year's corn crop, Ky Son district planted about 3,200 hectares of corn. And from the end of March and the beginning of April, the district provided 55 tons of corn seeds, of which 33.3 tons were under Program 30a and 21.7 tons under Program 135 for farmers to plant, reaching 3,000 hectares. Mr. Le Cong Tam, Head of the Ky Son District Agricultural Extension Station, said: For Ky Son, the main cultivated area is swidden fields, so irrigation conditions depend on the amount of rain. But this year, the drought has been prolonged, so according to the district's statistics, 85% of the planted corn area has been lost. In the remaining area, the corn plants may still be alive but their growth and development are very poor, so they cannot be harvested.

Comrade Vi Hoe, Secretary of the Ky Son District Party Committee, said: “Corn is a key crop, bringing stable income and playing a very important role in hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the district. Therefore, in the face of the large area of ​​corn dying due to heat and drought, the district really hopes that the province will support corn seeds to be ready to re-issue to farmers for cultivation when the weather turns favorable.”

Currently, the negative impacts of drought and prolonged heat have had a huge impact on farmers in the province in general and Ky Son farmers in particular. With the current situation, especially in Ky Son, one of the poorest localities in the province and the country, all levels and sectors need to prepare plans to support people's lives and production, including plans to support corn seeds... so that when the weather is favorable, it will be promptly distributed to people for cultivation. From there, it will contribute to stabilizing people's lives in the western borderland.

Nhat Le