Nghe An farmers rush to harvest onions to avoid flooding
(Baonghean.vn) - According to forecasts, from now until October 20, the province will experience heavy, prolonged rains and the risk of flooding. In this situation, farmers in Nghe An's "onion barn" are rushing to harvest. With the high price of onions, people are very excited.
Taking advantage of the clear weather, these days, people growing green onions in Quynh Bang, Quynh Luong (Quynh Luu) and Quynh Lien (Hoang Mai Town) are urgently harvesting before the heavy rain.
Planting 7 sao of onions, although the harvest is about 7 days away, on October 10 and 11, Mr. Ho Duc Hien, Dai Dong hamlet (Quynh Lien commune) hired 2 workers to harvest onions in advance. He said: Actually, the harvest is still a week away, but according to the forecast, in the coming days in our province there will be heavy rain, high risk of flooding, so I mobilized people to harvest the onion plots.
According to onion growers, spring onions are easily crushed and damaged when exposed to heavy rain. After the rain, when the water recedes, the onion leaves are also muddy and wilted, making it difficult to salvage. Therefore, as soon as heavy rain is forecast, people in the growing areas are busy harvesting the onion fields that are or are about to be harvested.
Mr. Hoang Ngoc Anh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quynh Lien Commune (Hoang Mai Town), said: In the winter crop, the commune planted 351 hectares of vegetables, of which 32 hectares were green onions. During the heavy rains at the end of September, many onion fields were flooded and damaged. Many onion fields were ready for harvest, many fields had about 5-7 days left, but people took advantage of the time to harvest before it rained and sell to traders.
In the fields of the Quynh Bang and Quynh Luong communes (Quynh Luu), farmers are also focusing on harvesting green onions before the heavy rains. “If the onions are exposed to heavy rain and waterlogging, the roots will rot, the leaves will wilt, and they will be completely lost. Therefore, when hearing the weather forecast, people rush to harvest,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam, a farmer in Quynh Bang commune.
This winter crop, the entire Quynh Luong commune planted 20 hectares of green onions. Green onions are identified as the main crop, with higher economic value than other vegetables. After the heavy rains at the end of September, people actively took care of the slightly flooded onion area. Before the next rain, farmers are actively harvesting.
Although people are harvesting at the same time, traders are currently buying up all the onions harvested. Notably, the price of green onions at this time is 5-7 times higher than at the beginning of the season.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh, a trader who specializes in purchasing vegetables and fruits in Quynh Lien commune for consumption in the northern provinces, said: Every day, my company purchases over 15 tons of onions for people in Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai. Currently, onion prices are very high, ranging from 15,000-16,000 VND/kg, 7 times higher than at the beginning of the season. Currently, onion supply is scarce due to heavy rains in late September, causing many onion areas to be severely damaged.
With a growing period of 45 days, people in the growing regions plant seeds at different times in the form of alternating crops. Therefore, for areas that are ready for harvest or are about to be harvested, people take advantage of the opportunity to pull them up and sell them to traders before the heavy rain.
As for the area of young onions, people continue to take care of them, dredge the furrows, prepare plans to drain water, and cover them to avoid crushing the leaves when heavy rains continue. Mr. Ho Nguyen Tuan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Luong Commune, said: This year, the weather is quite unfavorable for growing vegetables, especially spring onions. However, onion prices are increasing, so people still make a profit. With the current onion price, on average, people earn a profit of 8-10 million VND per sao.
According to weather expert Nguyen Ngoc Huy, in the coming days, at the same time, the Central and North Central regions will receive many unfavorable weather patterns. That is cold air carrying moisture from the circulation of storm No. 4 from Hong Kong, along with offshore disturbances bringing moisture in waves to the mainland and the possibility of forming a tropical convergence zone or tropical depression near the coast of the Central region.
All three extreme weather patterns will appear at almost the same time, causing heavy rain in waves from Quang Ngai to Thanh Hoa. The heaviest rain will be concentrated from Hue to Nghe An. The rain will last from now until October 20 and may be longer. This rain can cause severe flooding like the rain in October 2020.