Golden rains save thousands of hectares of rice fields from drought.

(Baonghean.vn) - The precious rain showers on the night of the 24th helped thousands of hectares of rice fields belonging to farmers in Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc... to some extent escape the risk of water shortage due to drought.

According to the North Central Meteorological and Hydrological Station, the rainfall measured on the evening of April 24th in Hung Nguyen, Vinh, and Nghi Loc was approximately 9-10 ml, which helped to alleviate some of the drought affecting the spring rice crop in Hung Nguyen and Nghi Loc.

Farmers in Hung Nguyen go to the fields to take care of the rice crop.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hue, head of the Hung Nguyen Town Agricultural Cooperative, said: “Hung Nguyen Town has 356 hectares of rice fields, dependent on irrigation water from 9 pumping stations, of which the cooperative manages 5. Although the pumping stations are still operating, the low water levels have made irrigation difficult, and insufficient water has caused one pump managed by the cooperative to burn out. The thunderstorm on the night of April 24th has improved the situation. Currently, the rice plants are in the panicle differentiation stage, preparing to flower, so last night's rain was extremely valuable, helping farmers combat drought and saving 15-17 million VND in irrigation costs.”

Mr. Cao Tan, from Block 9, Hung Nguyen town, has 5 sao (approximately 0.5 hectares) of rice paddies. After the rain on the evening of the 24th, he went to check on his fields on the morning of the 25th, repairing the embankments to retain water for the rice to flower. "Thanks to the rain, my rice crop was saved. I've been farming for many years, and I rarely see such heavy rain in the third lunar month. It's true that the rain in March brings about all sorts of problems," Mr. Cao Tan said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thuy, director of Hung Nguyen Irrigation Enterprise, said: “In recent days, continuous nighttime rain has helped improve the water supply in the canal and irrigation system in Hung Nguyen. Thanks to the rain, many irrigated areas served by the enterprise have basically sufficient water. Taking advantage of the available water, the enterprise is directing the Cau Ban, Station 8, and Station 6 stations to focus on pumping to serve the rice crop during the flowering stage.”

In the spring of 2016, Hung Nguyen district planted over 5,700 hectares of rice. Taking advantage of the rain, farmers are focusing on irrigating their fields and building embankments to prevent water loss, as this is the period when rice plants need a lot of water to accumulate nutrients.

Farmers in Nghi Loc welcome water into their fields.

In Nghi Loc district, 7,300 hectares of rice were planted in the spring season. Due to dependence on reservoir water sources, many communes in Nghi Loc are experiencing drought, with reservoirs only reaching 30-40% of their designed water levels. Therefore, last night's rain helped to cool down the rice crops in many communes such as Nghi My, Nghi Phuong, Lam, Kieu, Van, etc.

Thanh Tam - Thu Hien