Nghe An strictly manages rental harvesters during the epidemic season

Nghi Lam Commune authorities (Nghi Loc) tighten measures to manage harvesters operating in the area. Photo: Thanh Phuc

This summer-autumn crop, the entire Nghi Lam commune (Nghi Loc) planted 501 hectares of summer-autumn rice; the rice ripened in the fields while the commune was implementing social distancing according to Directive 16.

To proactively provide harvesters for people and avoid a shortage of harvesters leading to price gouging, as soon as the rice was green, the village chiefs contacted harvester owners in various places to order the machines.

Then, the hamlets reported to the commune information about the owner.reaperAt the same time, the commune invited the machine owners as well as the hamlet chiefs to come up and coordinate with the police to check the Covid test results, agree on prices, and sign a commitment to implement epidemic prevention measures during operations in the fields.

For the crop failure area, the harvester owner only takes 100,000 - 110,000 VND/sao. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Le Thi Duyen, an agricultural official of Nghi Lam commune, said: "Currently, Nghi Lam is harvesting.summer-autumn rice,Along with 2 harvesters available from local people, there are 7 harvesters from other places coming to harvest for hire. Accordingly, the machine owners have signed a commitment with the commune and hamlet on the price of 140,000 VND/sao for the area of ​​​​rice with good harvest and high yield and 110,000 VND/sao for the area of ​​​​crop failure and low yield. Currently, the whole commune has harvested 1/3 of the area.

With a price of 140,000 VND/sao, it is considered appropriate, but with a failed rice crop of 110,000 VND/sao, according to the harvester owners, it is "only breaking even, fuel and labor costs". However, as Mr. Bui Van Phe, a harvester owner from Ninh Phong (Hai Duong) who came to harvest for hire in Nghi Lam said: "During the epidemic, everyone is having a hard time, so we agreed with the locality to only take enough money for fuel and labor costs, no profit for the failed rice area. Consider it as supporting people together during the epidemic season".

According to Thanh My commune's regulations, the harvest price per sao is not more than 170,000 VND. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In Thanh My commune, when the rice in the fields began to ripen, the commune issued a notice aboutrice harvest price regulationin the area. Accordingly, the common floor price is 170,000 VND/1 sao; for swampy fields, fragmented fields that are difficult to harvest, the household with the field and the harvester owner can negotiate, but the harvest price cannot exceed 180,000 VND/1 sao.

If the harvester owners raise the price or collect harvester fees beyond the above regulations, the people should report to the village chief and the commune People's Committee for strict handling. At the same time, we call on the people to denounce the situation of protecting rice harvesters in the area to collect waste. For all denunciations, the commune People's Committee will absolutely protect the information of the denouncer.

Mr. Hoang Tien Tho - Chairman of Thanh My Commune People's Committee said: "The regulation of harvester prices has been implemented since the previous harvest season. The price is based on the common floor price in the district and the province, ensuring that those who own the machines also have wages and that people are not overcharged."

Many localities in the province have documents clearly regulating prices and epidemic prevention measures for harvesters operating in the area. Photo: Thanh Phuc

With 5,800 hectares of summer-autumn rice, localities in Nam Dan have harvested about 4,200 hectares at this time. In order to ensure security and order as well as Covid-19 epidemic prevention, Nam Dan district has directed localities to agree on prices, and at the same time required harvester owners to strictly comply with epidemic prevention measures and register temporary residence with the commune police if they want to stay at people's houses during the rice harvest.

Particularly for Xuan Hoa commune, an area that is implementing enhanced Directive 16, people are not allowed to leave their homes. The district and commune have signed contracts with harvester owners to help people harvest summer-autumn rice at a price of 150,000 VND/sao. After harvesting, the volunteer team will transport the rice to people's homes to help them.

Speeding up the summer-autumn harvest, Nam Dan farmers have now prepared the land and planted winter crops. Photo: Thanh Phuc

With dual goals, both ensuringSummer-autumn rice harvest progress, timely winter crop productionTo ensure the prevention and control of Covid-19, the People's Committee of Nam Dan district issued a document requesting communes and towns to strengthen the warning for people not to gather in large numbers, keep a safe distance, and wear masks; machine owners coming from other localities must fully declare their health and implement epidemic prevention measures; Dispatch police forces and members of disease control teams to monitor the rice harvest process, remind and handle violations.

“Since mid-August, the District People's Committee has issued an official dispatch on "Strengthening solutions to accelerate the harvest of summer-autumn rice in 2021" in the context of social distancing in the district. Accordingly, localities are required to visit fields, evaluate, and determine harvest time; review the number of harvesters currently in the locality, and plan to dispatch machines from other localities to ensure harvest for people, not to be passive".

Mr. Nguyen Dinh The - Head of Agriculture Department of Nam Dan district