After Tet, farmers sell rice seedlings for millions
(Baonghean.vn) - Due to the death of many transplanted rice plants, many farmers in Thanh Chuong district have had to buy seedlings to replant; therefore, many households have earned millions from selling seedlings. Buying and selling seedlings is a rare activity in Thanh Chuong.
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| People buy and sell rice seedlings busily at a corner of Con market (Thanh Duong - Thanh Chuong). Photo: Tran Dinh Ha |
For many days now, besides traditional goods, Con market (Thanh Duong - Thanh Chuong) has also had a very special item, which is plating.
The seedlings are brought by people from Thanh Duong commune and other communes in the region such as Ngoc Son, Xuan Tuong, Thanh Luong, etc. after the process of pruning and sowing excess rice, so they are sold. The seedlings are arranged in long rows at a corner near the national highway for convenience in buying and selling and to ensure environmental hygiene.
Ms. Hoang Thi Huong - a trader who has been trading at this market for over 30 years, was surprised and said: Con Market opens once a day. I have been trading here for a long time, but this is the first time I have seen the buying and selling of rice seedlings. It is true that there are buyers and sellers, but I am both happy and sad. I am happy because some people have made money from the surplus rice seedlings, but sad because I see the rice seedlings buyers having such a hard time.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Nam, a rice seedling seller in Hamlet 6, Thanh Duong Commune, said that these days her whole family has been pruning the excess rice seedlings to sell, mainly in the fields, the rest are brought to the market to find buyers. If they pull them together and buy them in the fields, each bundle costs 10,000 VND, and if they bring them to the market, each bundle costs 15,000 VND. Just pulling from 5 sao has sold nearly 2 million VND.
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| Ms. Vo Thi Nha (in black shirt) in hamlet 10, Ngoc Son commune (Thanh Chuong) is happy to have found a source of rice seedlings of the same type and quality. Photo: Dinh Ha |
In addition to the strange thing of buying and selling seedlings at the market, currently in all the fields of Thanh Duong commune and other communes in the region, wherever you go, you can see groups of people pulling or buying and selling seedlings. Accordingly, in these groups of people, there are only 1-2 people who are the owners of the fields, the rest are buyers of seedlings. There are areas such as Nam Son hamlet, the center of Thanh Khai commune, where there are many people pulling and buying and selling seedlings.
Mr. Nguyen Sy Hung - an agricultural engineer working at Dai Thanh Seed Company shared: Knowing that I am doing seedling farming, many people come to consult me on choosing seedlings, so I have been in the fields for the past few days. I have witnessed times when people buying and selling seedlings gather at Cau Gang Pumping Station like they are going to a festival. On average, each bundle of seedlings is sold for 15,000 VND, but that is not enough to sell. Many households have earned millions of VND from selling seedlings.
Also a resident of Ngoc Son commune, Ms. Vo Thi Nha in hamlet 10 had to go with her daughter and daughter-in-law to hamlet 6 to rent and buy seedlings. She said: I found seedlings of the same variety, strong plants with many roots so it is safe. Along with Ms. Nha were many people from Dong Van, Thanh Linh Thanh An communes... localities that have always specialized in transplanting.
Ms. Phan Thi Hoa in Phuong Dinh hamlet, Dong Van commune shared: “I grew 3 sao of rice but many died, and after replanting, there is only 1 sao left. In the past few days, I had to brave the rain to go to Ngoc Son commune to prune and replant with the local households to get seedlings. I don’t have any money for labor and have to buy seedlings at a price of 7-10 thousand VND for a bunch of seedlings that can be held in the palm of my hand. I don’t know if I can make up for the money I spent when the season comes, but farmers can’t stand seeing their fields abandoned.”
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| Currently, in the fields of Thanh Duong commune and neighboring communes, there are always groups of farmers pruning and collecting and selling seedlings. Photo: Dinh Ha |
“Rice plants have seasons, seedlings have ages”, finding a source of seedlings to replace the frozen areas in time for the season is a good thing to do. Thanks to this dynamism, all the dead rice areas in Thanh Chuong district will certainly be overcome.
Not promoting direct sowing of rice, but in the face of the reality that transplanted rice dies, replanted rice grows, leading to the buying and selling of seedlings, there is another option for farmers and localities to review the method: Should we sow and transplant at the same time to prevent situations like this spring crop?
Farmers go to the fields to replant spring rice
(Baonghean.vn) - This spring crop, Thanh Chuong district planted 8,200 hectares of rice; due to prolonged cold weather, over 320 hectares of rice froze to death. After the happy days of Tet, in addition to pruning and caring for the crops, people took the opportunity to plow and sow again.