Nghe An harvests more than 10,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice due to flooding

Dispute with floods

These days, people in Vien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) are gathering in the fields to harvest rice. His family has 8 sao of rice fields, all located in low-lying fields, so every year, as soon as the rice is 70% ripe, Mr. Nguyen Tien Thanh has to hire a machine to harvest rice.rice harvest.

“This field floods almost every year, but this year the rains came earlier. My family also has 2 sao of rice that was knocked down by a tornado a few days ago, so even though the rice is not quite ripe yet, I have to harvest it early. Since many other areas have not harvested yet, it is very easy to rent a harvester,” said Mr. Nguyen Tien Thanh.

This summer-autumn crop, the rice yield of Yen Thanh district is estimated at 6 tons/ha. Photo: Phu Huong

In recent days, many machine owners in some northern provinces have also brought harvesters into operation in the low-lying communes of Yen Thanh district. Coming to Yen Thanh district since August 18, Mr. Nguyen Van Dong in Ung Hoa district - Ha Tay said: Investing 570 million VND to buy a harvester since 2017, he currently earns about 60 million VND per rice crop after deducting all expenses. "This year, the price of oil is higher but I still keep the same price as last year, 200,000 VND/sao", Mr. Dong shared.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Vice Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee, the district has about 3,000 hectares of low-lying flooded areas, concentrated in 12 communes in the area such as Khanh Thanh, Long Thanh, Nhan Thanh, Bao Thanh... Harvesting started on August 16, by August 20, Yen Thanh district had harvested 300 hectares and is expected to be completed before August 30, the rest will be completed before September 10.

“In addition to propagating and mobilizing people to urgently harvest over 80% of ripe rice in deep-lying areas, the district assigned communes to call for harvesters from other places to concentrate on harvesting in the area; clearly divide and manage each field to make it as quick, neat and convenient as possible for the people,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Duong.

Thanks to many favorable factors, no heat and no prolonged rains and floods, the summer-autumn rice yield of Yen Thanh district reached about 6 tons/ha.

In Minh Chau commune (Dien Chau), although his family's 5 sao of rice has not yet fully ripened, since August 19, Mr. Ta Khac Cuong has rented a harvester. "This area is often flooded, so we only need the rice to be just ripe to be sure, but sometimes if we harvest just a few days late, all the effort and money of the whole season will be submerged by the rain," said Mr. Cuong.

Farmers in Minh Chau commune (Dien Chau) focus on harvesting when the rice is 70% ripe or more. Photo: Phu Huong

Dien Chau district has planted over 8,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice, and according to Mr. Le The Hieu - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the district has 1,500 hectares of rice in the communes of Minh Chau, Dien Nguyen, Dien Doai, Dien Thai... which will be harvested before August 25, the rest will be completed before September 5. Most of the summer-autumn rice is transplanted, and even before the spring rice harvest, people have harvested some areas early to plant seedlings; when the spring rice is harvested, the seedlings have been sown for 15 days, "saving" a significant amount of time.

According to initial assessment, the estimated summer-autumn rice yield in Dien Chau district this year is about 5.3 tons/ha, 1 ton/ha higher than last year's crop.

More than 10,000 hectares of low-lying areas will be harvested before August 30.

While most of the summer-autumn rice in other localities will not be harvested for another 10-20 days, in low-lying areas in some districts such as Yen Thanh and Dien Chau, people are focusing on harvesting the summer-autumn rice.

With many years of production in deep-lying fields, farmers here have learned that to make sure the summer-autumn crop is harvested quickly and neatly to compete with the rain and floods. Therefore, many measures have been taken to shorten the crop season and limit the risk of natural disasters.

Early seedling planting is one of the important solutions to help farmers in low-lying areas of Dien Nguyen commune (Dien Chau) speed up summer-autumn production time. Photo: Phu Huong

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection said: This summer-autumn crop, Nghe An planted over 61,000 hectares, of which more than 10,000 hectares are low-lying areas, prone to flooding, mainly concentrated in Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc districts...

With the motto "green house is better than ripe field", the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and localities are directing farmers to take advantage of favorable weather, focus on quickly harvesting rice areas of 70% or more ripe in low-lying areas; strive to complete harvesting of more than 10,000 hectares of low-lying areas before August 30.