Nghe An: Active efforts to save rice crops in drought-affected areas at the end of irrigation canals.

Some areas in the Cay Bun rice field, Ru hamlet, Cong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district are experiencing water shortages. Photo: Van Truong

Present at Cay Bun field, Ru hamlet, Cong Thanh commune, districtYen ThanhThe summer-autumn rice crop is in the tillering stage but is suffering from a water shortage, causing many rice paddies to crack.

Mr. Tran Tam from Ru hamlet, Cong Thanh commune, said: "During the hot days, the water from the pumping stations couldn't flow in fast enough, so the fields were short of water. We had to proactively use mini diesel pumps to pump water from the downstream areas of the canal."

According to a representative from the People's Committee of Cong Thanh commune: This summer-autumn crop season, Cong Thanh commune planted over 500 hectares of rice. Due to prolonged hot weather, about 15 hectares in the downstream areas of the canals have been affected by drought. The commune has directed the hamlets to deploy more than 10 mini-portable diesel pumps in the canals and ponds to pump water for the rice. From the beginning of the season, the commune has implemented dredging of over 5 km of canals and maintained field embankments to prevent water loss.

Farmers pump water into the Cay Bun field, Ru hamlet, Cong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Van Truong.

At the electric pumping station in Dai Thanh commune, belonging to the Yen Thanh Irrigation Enterprise, operations are currently at full capacity. According to the station's operators, the station irrigates nearly 300 hectares of rice fields in the communes of Dai Thanh, Ly Thanh, Lien Thanh, My Thanh, and Minh Thanh. They have been taking turns pumping water for the past 10 days. To achieve efficiency, the station implements a method of irrigating distant areas first, followed by lower areas, and when operating the pumps, they prevent water from overflowing the canals, thus avoiding water waste and energy loss.

Mr. Le Van Hong, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Yen Thanh district, added: This summer-autumn crop season, Yen Thanh district planted over 11,500 hectares of rice. Due to the prolonged heatwave, about 100 hectares in the downstream areas of the irrigation canals are experiencing water shortages. Currently, the district has coordinated with the Yen Thanh Irrigation Enterprise to install 6 mobile pumping stations.

The pumping station in Dai Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, is operating at full capacity to irrigate the summer-autumn rice crop. Photo: Van Truong

At this time, the Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise had also prepared four mobile oil pumps with a capacity of 600 m³.³At [time], pumps are placed at the head of canals N26 and N24 to irrigate over 100 hectares of rice fields at risk of drought in the communes of Quynh Hong, Quynh Hung, etc.

Currently, electric pumping stations in Nam Dan district are actively pumping water to combat drought in the downstream areas of the canals. Mr. Nguyen Son Tra, Director of the Nam Dan Irrigation Enterprise, said: This summer-autumn crop season, the unit is irrigating over 5,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice (mainly using the pumping station system). Of that, over 60 hectares of rice are concentrated in Xuan Lam, Hung Tien, and Kim Lien communes (Nam Dan district), located in the downstream areas of the canals, and therefore frequently suffer from water shortages.

Rice fields in Hoa Son commune, Do Luong district, have been lacking water since the beginning of the planting season. Photo: Van Truong

In response to this situation, the unit simultaneously deployed 17 pumping stations (50 pumps) to irrigate rice fields, focusing on rotational irrigation and concentrating water in the canals to supply water to rice fields located in difficult-to-access areas.

Currently, in the southern irrigation area, there are over 300 hectares of summer-autumn rice fields located at the end of the canals that are at risk of water shortage, concentrated in Nghi Lam, Nghi My, and Nghi Kieu communes (Nghi Loc district), Hung Yen Bac and Hung Yen Nam communes (Hung Nguyen district), and Xuan Lam, Hung Tien, and Kim Lien communes (Nam Dan district).

The irrigation unit has directed irrigation enterprises to operate 38 large and small pumping stations at full capacity. Prioritizing water delivery to areas at the end of the canals, irrigation units in Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, and Hung Nguyen districts have prepared 15 mobile diesel pumps to be installed in locations that often experience water shortages, ready to pump when needed.

Pumping water to combat drought for summer-autumn rice crops in Nam Dan district. Photo: Van Truong.

According to a report from the Irrigation Department, the prolonged hot weather in recent days has created difficulties in irrigating the summer-autumn rice crop. Therefore, to proactively combat drought, the Irrigation Department has requested localities and irrigation units to review the water situation, develop drought-resistant irrigation plans for each region and each project, and implement them when drought and water shortages occur.

Pumping water from the Dao River to irrigate rice fields in Trang Son commune, Do Luong district. Photo: Van Truong.