Inner-city wards in Vinh 'invite' residents to dry rice in stadiums.

Vinh City has 1,400 hectares of spring rice cultivation area, mainly concentrated in suburban communes such as Nghi Lien, Nghi Duc, Nghi An... and some inner-city wards such as Hung Dung, Dong Vinh...

Due to the specific weather and soil conditions, the planting and harvesting of spring rice is somewhat later than in other districts and towns. Currently, people in the wards and communes have basically finished harvesting the spring rice crop and are focusing on drying the rice.

For many years, Nguyen Duy Trinh Street in Hung Dung Ward, Vinh City, has been a hotspot for people drying their harvested rice on the road, completely blocking the street. This is a busy road with heavy traffic, especially near schools and the ward's People's Committee office, so drying rice always poses a risk of traffic accidents and congestion during peak hours.

However, this year, according to our reporter's observations, this situation has significantly improved. The road is no longer turned into a rice drying area, and some households that do dry rice only spread it out on a small area in front of their houses, not significantly affecting passersby.

The positive results were achieved thanks to the propaganda and mobilization efforts of the Hung Dung ward government. Accordingly, the ward allowed people to bring their harvested rice into the ward's stadium, which has a fairly large area, to dry it, minimizing the use of roads and sidewalks for drying rice as before.

Mr. Le Khac Hau, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Dung Ward, said: The entire ward currently has 121 hectares of spring rice. The practice of people encroaching on roads and sidewalks to dry their rice is against regulations. Therefore, the ward has opened a stadium, allowing people to bring their rice inside to dry.

This has helped to keep the streets clear, reducing traffic congestion and the risk of accidents, and farmers harvesting rice and bagging it are safer than doing it in the middle of the road as before. After recognizing its effectiveness, the ward will maintain this measure in subsequent harvest seasons.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue from Hung Dung ward said: "My family has over 3 sao (approximately 3,000 square meters) of spring rice that we just harvested last week. Because the alley is narrow and the yard has a corrugated iron roof, in previous years we had to take the rice out to the road to dry it. We knew it affected traffic, but there was no other way. This year, the ward has facilitated us bringing the rice into the stadium, and we are very happy and complying strictly."

Dong Vinh Ward is also a locality with a significant area of ​​rice and other crops within Vinh City. Previously, people used to dry rice on sidewalks and roads. However, this situation is gradually being rectified.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan, Chairman of the Dong Vinh Ward People's Committee, said: Currently, many agricultural land areas in the ward have been transferred for project implementation. The area of ​​rice fields is no longer large; however, the ward has issued a notice encouraging people to dry their agricultural products at the ward's stadium or the cultural centers of the 12 blocks, and not on the streets, as this poses a risk of traffic accidents and detracts from urban aesthetics.

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Currently, the ward has also assigned functional forces to regularly inspect and monitor the drying of agricultural products by residents in the area. If encroachment on the road or sidewalk occurs, timely reminders will be given.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan - Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Vinh Ward