Farmers in Yen Thanh district are racing to harvest their spring rice crop to avoid storms and strong winds.

Early in the morning of May 1st, in the fields of Tang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district), households were actively transporting rice to dry before the storm arrived.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Nam from Hamlet 4, Tang Thanh Commune, said: "Last night and today, my family took advantage of the opportunity to hire a combine harvester and harvested 5 sao (approximately 0.5 hectares) of rice."spring riceSince the rice is being dried at the commune's stadium, we no longer have to worry about it being damaged by storms. This year, the weather has been favorable, and the average rice yield is 3.7-3.8 quintals per sao (approximately 1000 square meters).

Mr. Dao Van Khai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tang Thanh commune, said: The entire commune has over 250 hectares of spring rice. The commune has directed farmers to strictly adhere to the district's planting schedule and to include high-quality rice varieties in the crop structure. They have also effectively applied scientific and technical methods, combined with intensive farming according to each growth cycle of the rice plant. As a result, this year's rice harvest is uniformly bountiful, estimated at an average of 7.7 tons/ha.

After receiving information about the impending thunderstorms in the coming days, the commune immediately notified the people on April 29th to take proactive measures. The commune mobilized over 6 combine harvesters to simultaneously harvest the rice. The harvesters worked in stages across each field, and thanks to the paved internal road system, agricultural vehicles could easily reach the fields to transport the rice. To date, the entire commune has harvested 50 out of 250 hectares of rice.

Mr. Le Van Hong, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Yen Thanh District, added: This spring, Yen Thanh District planted 12,700 hectares of rice, with an estimated yield of over 7.5 tons/ha. The reason for the bumper crop is not only favorable weather this year, but also the district's inclusion of high-yielding rice varieties such as Huong Thom No. 1, Bac Thom No. 7, Bac Thom 9… and hybrid varieties including Thai Xuyen 111, Phu Uu 978, and sticky rice M97…

The district has done a good job of investigating, estimating, and forecasting the emergence and damage caused by pests and diseases right from the beginning of the season, accurately identifying them for each type of crop, in order to advise and guide people to apply preventive measures and focus on effective control.

However, to ensure successful harvests, the district advises farmers in the communes to harvest quickly when the rice fields ripen to avoid damage caused by unusual weather conditions such as strong winds and thunderstorms. Currently, Yen Thanh district has mobilized over 160 combine harvesters to harvest simultaneously in the communes of Lien Thanh, Nam Thanh, Bac Thanh, Long Thanh, Xuan Thanh, etc.

To date, the district has harvested over 2,000 out of 12,700 hectares. As soon as the harvest is completed, farmers are deploying machinery to prepare the land for the upcoming summer-autumn planting season.