Farmers in Nghe An quickly harvest their summer-autumn rice crop to 'escape the storm'.
Prior to Typhoon No. 3 (Super Typhoon Yagi), Hung Nguyen district focused on quickly harvesting the summer-autumn rice crop that was 70% or more ripe. Authorities worked through the night to help people store the rice in safe places.
Harvesting summer-autumn rice quickly to "escape the storm"
On September 6th alone, residents of Thuong Khe hamlet, Hung Tay commune, Hung Nguyen district, harvested over 12 hectares of summer-autumn rice. Mr. Tran Hung Hai, head of Thuong Khe hamlet, said: "The hamlet's rice area is nearly 60 hectares, of which nearly 13 hectares are developed into large-scale fields, with production linkages and guaranteed product sales for TBR97 and fragrant glutinous rice varieties, yielding 3.3-3.5 quintals per sao (approximately 360 square meters). Taking advantage of the sunny weather and anticipating typhoon number 3, farmers have been busy harvesting rice that is 70% or more ripe in the past few days."
The entire Hung Tay commune has 403 hectares of rice fields. Before the storm, over 100 hectares had been harvested, with the rest still green. Mr. Cao Minh Luc, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: Yesterday (September 5th), the commune and hamlets mobilized 10 harvesting machines. Immediately after threshing, taking advantage of the sunshine, the people brought the rice out to dry. However, at 11 PM, a storm broke out in the area, so the commune mobilized security forces and militia to help people transport the rice from the drying yards to store it at home.
"Last night, we helped the villagers until 2 AM, but because there were still about 10 tons of rice that had been purchased by businesses, and due to the storm and power outage, the drying machines were not working, from 4:30 AM onwards, the forces continued to transport it to the school and the commune's People's Committee office to dry it using fans to prevent spoilage."
Mr. Cao Minh Luc - Vice Chairman of Hung Tay Commune People's Committee
Clearing the waterway ensures rapid drainage.
Mobilizing all resources and focusing on harvesting the summer-autumn rice crop, by September 6th, Hung Nguyen district had harvested 3,400 hectares of rice, of which more than 2,000 hectares were harvested just a few days before the storm.
Currently, nearly 900 hectares of rice fields in the district are still green. Over the past few days, communes and irrigation units have focused on dredging and clearing drainage ditches in the fields. The sluice gate system in the area has also been opened two days ago to reduce excess water in the fields, preventing flooding that could damage production; and farmers have been instructed to set up nets and build embankments to protect over 500 hectares of aquaculture farms.
At the same time, the local authorities are also reviewing bottlenecks and obstructions, mobilizing machinery to clear waterways to help drain water quickly; mainly on the Le Xuan Dao canal, Hoang Can canal, and some T16 and T18 canals that are blocked due to the construction of the North-South expressway. In addition, they are inspecting areas prone to riverbank and mountain erosion to develop evacuation plans in case of flooding or landslides.
Currently, most communes and areas have held meetings and implemented urgent tasks to prevent and mitigate the effects of the storm, and have organized 24/7 duty shifts to promptly handle any potential situations.
"The most worrying issue right now is that in key low-lying, outlying communes such as Hung Trung, Hung Tay, Hung Yen Bac, Hung Yen Nam, and inland communes such as Hung Tay, Hung Thong, Hung Nghia, and Hung Loi, there are still large areas of rice and aquaculture that have not been harvested," said Mr. Hoang Duc An.
