Farmers in mountainous districts are supported with over 3 billion VND to replace disease-free rice varieties.
(Baonghean.vn) - Last year, farmers in Que Phong district suffered a severe crop failure due to rice being infected with black-striped dwarf disease, so this spring, Que Phong district has a policy to support people in buying new rice varieties for planting.
The family of Ms. Vi Thi Huong, in Choi village, Chau Kim commune, has more than 3 sao of rice production. Ms. Huong said: Last year's crop, her family only harvested nearly 3 quintals of rice because the entire rice area of her family was infected with black-striped dwarf disease, reducing productivity.
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| The Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection inspected the situation of rice pests and diseases in Que Phong district and found that up to this point, the local spring rice crop has not had any significant pests or diseases, only some areas have had low density brown planthoppers. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
With the district's support for rice seed prices, this spring crop, her family planted 2 sao of Nhi Uu 986 rice, 1 sao of NA2 and some sticky rice. During the rice growing process, there were very few pests and diseases. It is estimated that this spring crop, her family will harvest 1 ton of rice, which will ensure food for the whole family.
According to data from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district, in the 2017 crop, up to 1,400 hectares out of a total of nearly 2,000 hectares of rice in Que Phong district were infected with black-striped dwarf disease, causing a loss of 30-70% of rice yield, causing thousands of families to lack rice to eat.
One of the reasons why Que Phong's rice is infected with black-striped dwarf disease is because many households have left their rice seeds for many years, so the quality is not guaranteed, especially causing disease germs for the rice plants.
Therefore, at the beginning of the last Spring crop, the People's Committee of Que Phong district had a policy to support people to buy new rice varieties to completely replace old rice varieties to limit pests and diseases. Accordingly, the district supported 100% of the price of seeds for poor households, 70% of the price of seeds for near-poor households, and 50% of the price of seeds for the remaining households.
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| Many areas of spring rice in Chau Kim commune (Que Phong) are planted in double rows to apply manure fertilizer. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
This spring, the People's Committee of Que Phong district planted 2,214 hectares, the total amount of support for buying rice seeds for people is over 3 billion VND. The support budget is used from Program 30a (2.5 billion VND), the rest is taken from the district budget.
New rice varieties have just been replaced for cultivation in Que Phong district including: Nhi Uu 986, NA2, Zaponika...
Currently, the spring rice crop of Que Phong district is in the flowering stage. According to the assessment of the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the entire rice area of the locality is growing stably, without the appearance of worrying pests and diseases. Up to now, only about 300 hectares of rice have brown planthoppers, but the density is low, and farmers have not had to spray pesticides yet./.