Nghe An farmers plant at night to avoid drought
(Baonghean.vn) - Due to the hot weather during the day, Nghe An farmers have chosen to plant rice at night to avoid the sun and ensure a tight schedule during the "drought" of summer and autumn.
In the fields of Quynh Luu district, taking advantage of the time when there is water for production, people are competing with the heat to go to the fields to sow summer-autumn rice.
Mr. Nguyen Van Manh in Quynh Hau commune (Quynh Luu) said that his family has 4 sao of land located in the highlands so they often lack water for production. In the past 2 days, Phu Thanh Cooperative has made efforts to regulate water sources from the river system to pump into the fields, so today there is water. Many machines are being mobilized to plow the land.
"When water enters the fields, people must quickly prepare the land and plant crops. If there is a delay, the water will soak into the ground, making it difficult to plant. If the machine plows the land, the family will mobilize labor to plant at night," said Mr. Manh.
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| Mr. Nguyen Van Manh in Quynh Hau commune (Quynh Luu) shovels rice seedlings to plant at night. Photo: Viet Hung |
Currently, many households in Quynh Doi, Quynh Yen, and Quynh Thanh communes are also going to the fields to plant rice at night to "run the drought".
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa in Quynh Doi commune, who is planting rice at night, said that her family has 6 sao of rice fields. Due to the hot weather, the water pumped into the fields is only enough for plowing and planting, not as abundant as in the winter-spring crop, so the family mobilized 5 people to go to the fields from 7 pm to plant on time. Planting at night not only retains water, helps the seedlings take root quickly, but also avoids the sun, resulting in higher labor productivity.
Usually at 3-4 am, people will wake up to go to the fields to plant rice, come back in the morning or in some places after dinner, bring flashlights and batteries to the fields to plant rice until late at night.
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| Pumping stations operate continuously day and night to pump water into the rice fields. Photo: Viet Hung |
In the summer-autumn crop of 2018, Quynh Luu district produced 7,500 hectares of rice. Up to now, people have only planted about 4,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice, and about 3,000 hectares have not had water for production. Of which, Quynh Hau commune has 200 hectares, Quynh Thach has 148 hectares, Quynh Lam has 340 hectares, Quynh My has 20 hectares... that cannot be planted.
To cope with the crop season, Quynh Luu directed the communes to encourage people to use machines to pump water from the main canals to the fields to quickly prepare the land for planting. Particularly for the irrigation enterprise, it is necessary to assign a specific water schedule to each commune, and have a plan to supplement water for the second phase for communes with many areas that have not been able to produce.
In Yen Thanh, farmers are also busy planting rice at night. Mr. Nguyen Tho Kien in Nam Thanh commune shared: "During the day, the sun is scorching hot, 38-39 degrees Celsius, so we choose to go to the fields at night to plant rice, which is cooler and ensures our health."
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| People in Nam Thanh commune wear lamps to plant rice at night. Photo: Ho Cac |
Nam Thanh commune grows over 300 hectares of summer-autumn rice, of which over 50% of the area is mainly grown at night.
According to the district's crop calendar, sowing and planting must be completed before June 12. Many communes in key rice areas have overcome difficulties and taken advantage of night planting, so up to now, 90% of the area has been sown and planted, such as Nam Thanh, Do Thanh, Tho Thanh, Long Thanh...
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| Some fields near residential areas in Bac Thanh commune, people bring electricity to the fields to plant rice. Photo: Ho Cac |
Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of Yen Thanh Agriculture Department said: During the hot sunny day, farmers focus on planting rice at night. This is also the tradition and experience of the people in the rice fields. Planting rice at night in the cool fields makes the rice plants take root faster, avoids the rice from wilting, and makes the workers less tired.
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