Highland farmers in Nghe An join hands to restore production after flooding
Returning to the flooded areas after more than 2 weeks, the mud has been cleared up quite a bit. Local people have started to restore production with many difficulties as fields are still buried in mud and livestock are suffering from diseases.
Focus on taking care of the tree, the child will survive
In the hot sun of the first days of August after the flood, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai in Tien Thanh village, Con Cuong commune went to the fields to “visit” her family’s fields. Seeing the young and lush water spinach, Ms. Hoai and other women took the opportunity to pick some to improve their dinner.
While picking vegetables, Ms. Hoai said: “These vegetables just appeared after the flood. The mud was flooded for 2 weeks, enough for the vegetables to float here and grow well. My house was buried by the mud after the flood, 5 sao of corn and sesame that had not been harvested yet, 5 female goats also died because they were not moved out of the barn in time. Now there are only a few goats left, the fields have not been restored, so we focus on taking care of the remaining goats.”
Sharing the same situation, accompanying Ms. Hoai to the fields to cut grass and take care of the remaining animals after the flood, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien said that her family's main income "looks" at 7 sao of rice fields, including 3 sao of sesame, 1 sao of beans, 3 sao of corn along with her livestock including goats, geese, chickens, and pigs. However, the flood on the night of July 22 buried all 7 sao of Ms. Hien's rice fields before they could be harvested, along with 20 chickens and 1 goat also swept away by the muddy water.
“Now there are only 3 goats and 1 calf left. I am taking advantage of the opportunity to go up to the high mountains that are not flooded to cut some grass to take care of the remaining animals. As for the fields, I will wait until September or October, if all the rocks and sand on the surface can be cleared, then I can plant again,” said Ms. Hien.
Tien Thanh village used to belong to Chi Khe commune of the old Con Cuong district. Now, Chi Khe commune, Tra Lan town and Yen Khe commune have merged into Con Cuong commune. Tien Thanh village chief - Ngo Dang Huy said that some Tien Thanh people do business along National Highway 7, the rest mostly live by farming and raising livestock. This season, people are preparing to harvest corn, sesame and other vegetables, but before people can harvest, the flood came, all the newly planted rice fields, corn, sesame, eggplant... were swept away by the fierce water. Most of the flooded areas cannot be harvested, currently waiting for mud treatment to plant a new crop" - Mr. Ngo Dang Huy said.
Mr. Tran Anh Tuan - Chairman of Con Cuong Commune People's Committee said that the flood on July 23 caused 24/36 blocks, villages and hamlets of Con Cuong Commune to be flooded. Livestock production was also severely affected when 76 buffaloes, cows, 15 goats, 715 pigs and nearly 100 thousand poultry were swept away by the water. In addition, all barns and livestock equipment of people in the flooded area were damaged by over 70%. More than 110 hectares of rice, more than 550 hectares of perennial and annual crops were buried or affected by over 70%. The damage to crops and livestock alone was estimated at nearly 100 billion VND.
Prevent the spread of disease
Like the people of Con Cuong, in other localities, besides overcoming the consequences of floods, people are also making efforts to restore agricultural production.
In Bai So village, only a few rice fields near the stream were buried in mud and are waiting to be treated for new planting. In other areas, people have started growing winter vegetables such as cucumbers, beans, and replanting sesame...
In the old Tam Dinh commune, now Tam Quang commune, there was no flooding, but it was threatened by the African swine fever epidemic, and people were advised to improve disease prevention measures for their livestock. In Quang Yen village (old Tam Dinh commune), Mr. Kha Van Tha and his wife diligently cut grass every day and supplemented rice bran for their livestock, including 30 goats, more than 40 pigs and nearly 200 chickens.
With the spirit of efforts to restore production after the flood, in Tam Quang commune, 2 weeks after being devastated by the flood, along with cleaning up mud and overcoming the consequences, the government and people of Tam Quang also started to restore production and livestock farming.
Ms. Kha Thi Hien - Vice Chairman of Tam Quang Commune People's Committee said that in the recent flood, in addition to heavy damage to houses and property, agriculture and forestry in Tam Quang commune also suffered many losses with nearly 300 hectares of various crops damaged, estimated damage of more than 2.7 billion VND. In addition, more than 4,300 poultry, nearly 100 goats and pigs along with 84 fish cages were also swept away by flood waters, estimated damage of nearly 4 billion VND.
Currently, in Tam Quang, African swine fever has penetrated some areas of the commune. Therefore, this time, the commune has increased inspections, reminded people to strictly implement the announced disease prevention and control measures, isolated and promptly handled outbreaks to prevent them from spreading, protect livestock production, and limit damage.
According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the recent flood affected more than 8,200 hectares of various crops. Of which, more than 3,100 hectares of rice were damaged, and more than 2,600 hectares of vegetables were damaged. To guide and support localities in recovering production, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Nghe An issued Document No. 5944 to provide urgent guidance and direct localities to restore production in the spirit of "where the water recedes, save the plants there".
Accordingly, localities are required to arrange staff to closely monitor the fields, review and fully count the damage by crop group, thereby developing specific recovery plans for each crop; develop a winter crop production plan early, considering this as the main crop to compensate for damage caused by floods.
For areas that can still recover, it is necessary to hoe, hill up, prevent root suffocation and spray fungicides, especially those that cause root rot. When the weather is favorable, it is necessary to supplement nutrients for plants to recover quickly. Areas that have been completely lost need to be prepared early and the fields cleaned to replant short-term vegetables.
