Que Phong: Lack of water for spring irrigation

(Baonghean) -At the beginning of the spring crop, Que Phong was seriously short of irrigation water. Currently, some areas have not been able to plant crops due to lack of water. The risk of losing the spring rice crop due to drought is present.

Along the rice fields of Dan 1, Dan 2, Phuong Tien 1, Phuong Tien 2 villages... Tien Phong commune, it is heartbreaking to see many newly planted rice fields that have not yet taken root and turned yellow due to lack of water. Ms. Le Thi Hoa in Phuong Tien 3 village said: "Look, 6 sao of newly planted rice lacks water, 2 sao have cracked like crow's feet". Mr. Luong Van Thoai - Head of Phuong Tien 3 village said: In the whole Phuong Tien 3 village, there are 20 hectares of rice, nearly 4 hectares of which cannot be planted due to lack of water, the main source of water is taken from the wheel on the Nam Viec river. But because Hanh Dich Hydropower Plant blocked the flow from upstream, the downstream is seriously lacking water. Currently, out of 20 water wheels, only nearly 10 are operating. We followed the Nam Viec river and saw a section of the river with exposed rock bottom. Mr. Thoai added: Currently, some households have proactively rented oil pumps to pump water from the bottom of the stream, but the cost is too expensive. Mr. Vo Khanh Toan - Chairman of Tien Phong Commune People's Committee said: This spring crop, Tien Phong restructured 305 hectares of rice, but due to lack of water, currently more than 15 hectares in Phuong Tien I, II, III and Bon villages... still cannot be planted. The main water source is taken from Nam Viec river by waterwheels. The whole commune has more than 110 waterwheels, but up to 40 of them cannot be used. Not to mention that Long Quang dam irrigating Long Quang village over 15 hectares has also dried up. In addition to the rice area that cannot be planted, there are hundreds of hectares at risk of water shortage, if there are no effective measures, it seems that the crop will fail very clearly.

Rice fields in Cam village, Cam Muon commune (Que Phong) are at risk of water shortage.

According to Mr. Toan, Tien Phong's current solution is to mobilize people to rent more than 30 oil pumps. For Chom Bay lakes, which irrigate 30 hectares in Muong Hin, and Tung Mo lake, which irrigates 15 hectares, water is saved to the maximum extent. Water is used in streams and dead-end rivers, and water is saved in the lake bed for irrigation during the rice-growing and flowering stages. The current difficulty is that in addition to the expensive pumping costs, many sections of streams and Nam Viec river also do not have water to pump. The commune's current wish is for the State to invest in an electric pumping station at the end of the source and invest in a system to solidify the canals because the current earthen canals lose a lot of water.

Going up to Cam Muon commune, many people are actively dredging canals to get water. Mr. Lo Tung in Cam village, who has 2 sao of rice fields, said: This year, there is little rain, so the streams are dry, many water-taking machines cannot work, now the only way is to use field oil pumps to get water. According to Mr. Lu Thanh Binh - Chairman of Cam Muon Commune People's Committee: Cam Muon has over 179 hectares of rice, currently over 10 hectares are lacking water due to the unfinished construction of Don Phat dam. If it does not rain, the drought-stricken spring rice areas will increase.

Mr. Lu Van Tien - Head of Que Phong Service Station said: This spring crop, Que Phong planted over 2,000 hectares of rice. Up to this point, many irrigation works lack water, especially many communes that have not been able to plant rice due to lack of water. For example, Muong Noc commune has 28 hectares that have not been planted, Hach Dich 26.9 hectares, Que Son 8 hectares... The total area lacking water and not being able to plant rice is over 80 hectares.

The current measure to save the rice is that the Station has mobilized field oil pumps to pump water to areas with severe water shortages. Specifically, mobilizing 3 14-horsepower oil pumps placed in Phuong Tien I, II, III villages, Tien Phong commune. Placing 2 oil pumps in Cam village area, Cam Muon commune... Focusing on watering both day and night, each pumping session lasts from 8-10 days. In total, mobilizing about 15 pumps placed in Hanh Dich, Muong Noc, Que Son, Chau Thon communes... Previously, on February 14, Que Phong mobilized thousands of workers to dig and fill 1,870m3 of mud, dredge 1,957m of mud, and clear 116m2. Another difficulty now is that there are quite a few dams under construction due to lack of capital, so the progress is slow, affecting irrigation for many rice areas. Such as Tin Phu - Quang Phong dam, Muong Cuong dam in Muong Noc, Don Phat dam in Cam Muon.

The district's plan is to review the possibility of switching to other crops in drought-affected areas. The service station will coordinate with communes to take measures such as placing pumps to save rice in areas that can be saved; focusing on building temporary dykes to take advantage of water in streams...

Article and photos: Van Truong