'Decoding' Thanh Chuong farmers' method of pumping irrigation water without electricity

Mr. Ha invested in a pipeline system to bring water from the lake and dam to the pumpkin field. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Growing 13 sao of squash, on hot days with frequent power outages, Mr. Nguyen Quang Ha in Ngu Cam hamlet, Thanh Xuan commune is not worried about the water source for irrigation. "I am proactive, 13 sao of squash have never lacked water for irrigation. Moreover, I can pump water freely without electricity, saving a lot of costs," said Mr. Ha.

Near Mu Sy dam, taking advantage of the abundant dam water source, the squash fields are located below the foot of the dam, 2-3m lower than the dam water level. Therefore, Mr. Ha bought rubber pipes to connect, and made a self-flowing water system. "Applying the law of "water flowing to low places", I bought large-radius rubber pipes, connected to draw water from the irrigation dam to irrigate the squash gardens. The cost of investing in the pipes was about 1.5 million VND, pulling from the dam to the garden, but in return, no electricity was spent on pumping water", said Mr. Ha.

Pipelines are installed from Trang Khong irrigation dam to the fields without the need for pumps. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The way this self-flowing water system operates is very simple, that is, the water flows from high to low, when the water fills the pipe, the air pressure is gone, it will create a strong flow force, to lead the water to where, just need to connect more pipes, as long as the water supply point is always higher than the place that needs to be pumped. When not in use, just close the water pipe, if left for a long time, moss, mud snails stick to the pipe causing the water flow to be weak, just use a pump, "prime" pump for about 5 minutes to clear the pipe and it will operate as before.

Thanks to this method, even though he grows 13 sao of squash, he alone can take care of the squash well, with high productivity and high yield.

Connect more pipes wherever water is needed. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“With just one movement of unlocking the water, the water will automatically flow into the squash grooves. When the grooves are full, it will seep into the bed and into the squash roots, without any effort or cost,” Mr. Ha said excitedly.

Last spring, 10 sao of squash brought his family a net profit of 300 million VND. While people in other areas were worried about the lack of water and electricity to irrigate squash and did not dare to expand their area, Mr. Ha's family increased their area by 3 sao when he was fully proactive in providing irrigation water.

This summer-autumn crop, Mr. Bui Van Dai's family also grows 6 sao of squash. The irrigation water source is also proactively provided by a self-flowing water system leading from the ditch in front of the house to the foot of the field.

When needed, just unlock and water will automatically flow into the pipe. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“Without this self-flowing irrigation system, it would cost a lot of money to pump water; if there are continuous power outages like now, summer-autumn squash production will face many difficulties, the price of squash will certainly not be as high as in the spring crop while the cost of using gasoline and diesel to run the generator to irrigate is dozens of times higher than using electricity,” said Mr. Dai.

This summer-autumn crop, the entire Thanh Xuan commune restructured 6 hectares of commercial green squash. Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee Nguyen To Nhu said that the summer-autumn crop faced many difficulties: At the beginning of the crop, there was severe drought, lack of electricity, lack of water for irrigation, while the price of squash was lower than that of the spring crop when the northern provinces were in the harvest season.

Thanks to proactive irrigation, all pumpkin fields in Thanh Xuan commune are green and productive. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Therefore, we only direct the production of squash in areas with proactive irrigation water sources. Especially areas near lakes, dams, and ditches for people to install and connect to self-flowing water systems. In the commune, there are 5 large and small lakes and dams, which are very convenient for people to bring water to squash fields by self-flowing.

This method saves both costs and labor, and especially, there is no need to worry about squash drought when planting during the peak of the heat. In addition, households growing squash far from lakes and dams use well water to irrigate squash. To save water and electricity, people have invested in drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation systems.

Drip irrigation systems, sprinklers leading from reservoirs down are also a way for people in the squash growing area of ​​Thanh Xuan commune to cope with frequent power outages during droughts. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Bui Thi Kiem in Xuan Hien hamlet, Thanh Xuan commune said: “This summer-autumn crop is the second crop my family has grown squash. The area is 3 sao, the irrigation water is pumped from a well. This squash crop, due to the prolonged drought, when there is electricity, drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation are used. When there is a power outage, water is taken from the storage tank, automatically led into the ditches so that the water seeps into the squash beds. Therefore, there is no need to depend on electricity or generators.”

Thanh Phuc