Many localities are planting early spring crops: Little to celebrate, much to worry about.

Before the Lunar New Year, most farmers in Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, and Quynh Luu districts had finished planting their spring rice crop. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In the last days of the twelfth lunar month, strolling through the fields from Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Hung Nguyen districts... up to Do Luong and Nghia Dan, one can see that the farmers have finished their work.planting spring riceIn fact, some rice fields have already started to turn green. It has been learned that in many places, farmers started planting in mid-December, disregarding all warnings from specialized agencies and local authorities that the spring planting season this year should begin on the 5th day of the first lunar month.

Mr. Nguyen Van Long from Bac Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) said that although he knows the government's planting schedule is after the Lunar New Year, people prefer to plant rice after the holiday because they are usually idle before the Lunar New Year and want to go to the fields to plant so they can enjoy the holiday more comfortably. "If other villagers go to the fields to plant spring rice in the twelfth lunar month, my family also has to go to the fields to do the same. Because if we don't, later during the harvest season, when others harvest everything, our fields will be destroyed by buffaloes, cows, grasshoppers, etc., and there might not even be any machines left to harvest," Mr. Long explained.

Farmers in Bac Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) began sowing the 2023 spring rice crop on December 20, 2022. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Nguyen Trong Huong, Director of the Yen Thanh District Agricultural Services Center, said: Although the district has implemented a specific and detailed plan for the 2023 spring rice crop,seasonal calendarDespite regular propaganda efforts by various levels and sectors, the people did not strictly adhere to the district's planting schedule. By the end of December, most communes in the district had basically completed the spring rice planting; only a few highland communes such as Lang Thanh, Hau Thanh, Hung Thanh, Dong Thanh... had yet to plant.

In Dien Chau district, the practice of farmers planting spring rice ahead of schedule is quite common in many localities. Mr. Le The Hieu, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the district, said: This year, based on the provincial planting schedule, the district has implemented a specific spring crop production plan that closely matches reality. In general, spring rice is planted after the Lunar New Year. However, at the district's spring crop production implementation meeting, some localities with low-lying land (the whole district has about 1,200 hectares of low-lying land) proposed planting earlier than scheduled to harvest early, and then implementing summer-autumn rice production to avoid flooding. To limit the situation of highland farmers planting spring rice ahead of schedule, in addition to propaganda work, Dien Chau district also has the solution of cutting off irrigation water for a certain period so that farmers do not have water to prepare the land and sow seedlings; Those households that intentionally sow their crops early will not be eligible for government support if they encounter risks due to natural disasters… However, most communes have completed the sowing of spring rice by the end of December.

By January 17th (the 26th day of the 12th lunar month), many areas of spring rice in the province had begun to sprout. Photo: Xuan Hoang

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc, Head of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection: Because the beginning of spring in 2023 falls on the 14th day of the first lunar month, and there are two leap months in February, the cold weather will last until the third lunar month. To ensure the rice plants flower during warmer weather, at the end of April, the province issued a planting schedule for the next spring rice crop, coinciding with the period after the Lunar New Year.

However, by January 17th (the 26th day of the 12th lunar month), the entire province had sown and planted approximately 50,000 out of 90,000 hectares of spring rice, concentrated mainly in the following localities: Do Luong (about 70%), Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, and Hung Nguyen (50-60% of the area).

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc expressed concern that, compared to the province's planting schedule, farmers are sowing rice seedlings 15-20 days earlier, increasing the risk of severe cold weather and causing the spring rice crop to flower during unfavorable weather conditions, thus affecting yield.

Spring crop production is the main crop of the year; therefore, farmers need to strictly follow the planting schedule and recommendations from specialized agencies to avoid weather-related risks and achieve high crop yields.