Nghe An farmers harvest agricultural products 'avoiding' heavy rain after storm

According to the forecast from this evening (July 23) to the night of July 24, the province will have moderate rain, heavy rain and thunderstorms, and very heavy rain in some places. The forecasted rainfall in the coastal plains is generally from 40 - 80mm, in some places over 120mm such as in Nghi Loc and Dien Chau districts... In the midlands and mountainous areas, it is generally from 50 - 100mm, in some places over 150mm such as in Ky Son, Tuong Duong and Que Phong districts... In order to minimize the damage caused by heavy rain after the storm, taking advantage of the clear weather, people have urgently harvested crops to "escape" the flood...

Growing nearly 8 hectares of commercial lotus for flowers, shoots and seeds combined with fish farming, these days, Mr. Doan Dong's family in Dien An commune (Dien Chau) has to mobilize workers to harvest lotus to avoid the storm. Mr. Dong said: "Heavy rain will cause the lotus flowers to be waterlogged, lotus pods with seeds submerged in water will rot. Therefore, these days, we hire workers to urgently harvest before the heavy rain occurs. Harvesting in large quantities does not have time to process and retail, but must be sold directly to traders, so the price will be cheaper. However, we still have to accept it because floods are unavoidable."

Lotus areas in Nam Giang, Kim Lien, Nam Linh communes... (Nam Dan) are also being urgently harvested by producers before heavy rain occurs.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, a lotus picker in Kim Lien commune, said: "This lotus area is mainly for picking flowers, selling fresh flowers to agents on weekends and holidays. The price of lotus will be higher, about 5,000 - 6,000 VND/flower.

However, due to the storm, we have to harvest quickly. If we can't sell the fresh flowers in time, we have to peel them to get the lotus seeds and pistils to make tea. For the past two days, the pond owners have been hiring by the hour. In addition to the 8 hours as before, they also harvest through the afternoon, charging an additional 40,000 - 50,000 VND per hour.

On the morning of July 23, taking advantage of the clear weather, people in the coastal areas of Quynh Lien (Hoang Mai town) and Quynh Luong (Quynh Luu) gathered to harvest vegetables to avoid flooding. The fields of sweet mustard greens ready for harvest were gathered by people to cut and pick.

“Just one heavy rain will crush the vegetable leaves. Therefore, this morning, in addition to cutting and selling according to pre-orders, areas that are prone to flooding and have no cover are also harvested,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, a farmer in Quynh Luong commune.

In the fields of Quynh Lien commune, the atmosphere is also very urgent. Households growing green onions in Quynh Lien commune are speeding up the harvest and speeding up the uprooting and transplanting of onions from low-lying areas to higher fields.

According to the experience of the people, if there is heavy rain in the near future, the onions will be crushed and flooded, it will be difficult to have good seeds. Moreover, the higher area has been harvested, now taking advantage of planting and focusing on care will yield an off-season harvest, and the price of onions will also be higher. Mr. Hoang Ngoc Anh - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quynh Lien commune informed that the whole commune has 70 hectares of chayote, 12 hectares of green onions and 150 hectares of various vegetables.

To cope with the floods, the commune has advised people to harvest vegetable fields that are ready for harvest; dredge beds and ditches to drain water in time; and cover vegetable and green onion areas to avoid crushing.

Normally, households growing morning glory in Nam Anh, Nam Xuan, and Nam Kim communes (Nam Dan) only pick enough to supply traders in the morning, and finish harvesting around 8am. However, today, when hearing that storm No. 2 was approaching the mainland, and that there was often heavy rain after the storm, households proactively contacted traders to buy more and harvest the remaining bunches of flowers that were about to "ripe".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, a lily flower trader in Nam Xuan commune (Nam Dan) said: “Heavy rain will cause the flowers to rot and fall off. The most delicious lily flowers are when they are ripe, just opening the buds but not fully blooming. Therefore, we usually buy in the morning and send them to the provinces during the day. However, today, we increased the purchase amount for people, and at the same time, buy and store goods because if heavy rain occurs, the flowers will rot and fall off, and cannot be harvested, and the supply will be interrupted in the following days.”