Harvesters work hard in the sun to compete with the season.

When the rice is golden ripe in the fields, it is also the time when the combine harvester is in operation, and the scene of people bustling out to the fields is no longer as bustling as before. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In the past, on the day of the rice harvest, the fields were bustling with people, rudimentary vehicles, and buffaloes and oxen. Every household rushed to the fields to harvest and transport heavy bundles of rice home, drenched in sweat. Today, instead, modern combine harvesters are present in the fields, not only helping farmers to work less as before, but also speeding up the harvest. Many families even leave their fields to the harvesters.

In the scorching heat of the harvest days, being present in the fields of Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Do Luong districts... one can truly understand the hardships of harvesters.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, a ownercombine harvesterin Dong Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) said that he invested hundreds of millions of dong to buy a combine harvester 2 years ago. Therefore, every rice harvest season, he sticks to the fields to quickly recover his capital. Observations show that there are 3 people sitting on the combine harvester (called a harvest team), in which a main driver sits in the cabin to control the machine and 2 assistants stand on the side of the machine with the task of collecting rice into sacks and carrying the rice to the shore. All are equipped with protective gear, covering their faces to avoid the heat of the sun.

A three-person harvest team on a combine harvester. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Tan said: Before the harvest, the first job is to hire a mechanic to check all the machinery, to make sure the machine operates smoothly in the field, minimizing damage.

Thanks to that, since the beginning of the season, his harvester has been running smoothly, and the team has work to do every day. During the hot days, if they can't finish all the work, they work until midnight before taking a break.

"Each household here only grows 3-5 sao of rice, but because the 2-3 plots are far apart, some households have to harvest 2-3 sessions to finish. Another difficulty is that, in the same field, but because of many different rice varieties, some fields ripen first, some ripen later, the machine works hard, because it has to move from one field to another through many fields. At the same time, many fields are flattened close to the ground, the machine's speed has to be reduced. Therefore, the efficiency of the harvester is not high, it should be able to harvest 5-6 hectares each day, but only 4-5 hectares of rice" - Mr. Tan said.

Bringing in combine harvesters to harvest rice has made it easier for farmers to shorten the harvest time and reduce hardship. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Machine owner Nguyen Van Tan shared that every day, despite the hot weather, the machine owner and the harvest team still have to go to the fields, see which fields are ripe, and proactively call the owner. After harvesting, if the owner does not have a means to transport the rice home, the machine owner is ready to transport it to the owner's house, free of charge.

"In addition to investing in a combine harvester, my family also invested in a small truck to transport rice for the people. We also invested in rice packaging, so during hot weather, households who do not want to go to the fields can leave it to the harvesters and just sit at home waiting for the rice to come home to dry," Tan shared.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoi - a rice field owner in Dong Thanh commune confided: Every year, her family grows 4 sao of rice. Every time it's harvest time, because her children work far away, the harvester owner just harvests and transports the rice home, because her parents are old and don't want to go to the fields anymore.

Struggling to get the mud out of the harvester's tracks, Mr. Long, from Thanh Hoa, was called to the rice district by his friends.Yen Thanhharvester, said: “The rice here has a good harvest, high yield, but the machine is quite hard-working, because the land in many places is muddy and swampy, and in many places the fields are narrow and difficult to move around. With the income of 160,000 - 200,000 VND/sao of rice, while there are also costs for fuel, mechanics, food... so the machine owner must operate appropriately to avoid waste and be most effective.”

Many mill owners even buy trucks to transport rice from the fields to households. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Observations show that each combine harvester has two metal ladders. It is known that due to the muddy fields, ladders must be placed so that the combine can safely descend into the field. If not careful, the machine can easily tip over. In fact, there have been cases where the combine has tipped over right in the field, not only causing damage to the machine but also affecting the life of the harvester," said a machine owner.

Although it is difficult to move the machine across high or low fields, the mechanics still have to measure each path regularly so that the harvester operates effectively, saves fuel and does not leave behind any of the farmers' rice. This is also the minimum factor to build prestige, creating trust for farmers to trust and entrust their entire rice fields and the fruits of their labor to the harvesters.

In the past 7-8 years, in addition to tillage machines, combine harvesters have been commonly used in the lowland districts of the country.Nghe AnUsing combine harvesters not only shortens rice harvesting time for farmers but also reduces crop loss, especially reducing labor during the harvest season.

In reality, many localities have families investing in buying combine harvesters to serve the people, but some localities have had to mobilize harvesters from other places. In any case, with the participation of local authorities or agricultural service cooperatives, farmers have harvesters to serve them thoughtfully and at reasonable prices, no longer having to harvest by human power as before.

The intervention of local authorities has also avoided the situation of fighting over harvesters and operating areas of machine owners, causing disorder and insecurity.

Modern combine harvesters, along with land conversion, have contributed significantly to a full harvest season, helping farmers reduce hardship during the harvest season./.

Xuan Hoang