Quy Hop - dozens of hectares of rice died: Need to quickly determine the cause

(Baognhean) -In Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes (Quy Hop), local authorities and residents are extremely worried as more than 50 hectares of rice that were in the tillering stage suddenly died. The district People's Committee has sent a dispatch requesting specialized agencies to investigate the cause of the rice death, but so far there have been no results.

Standing hesitantly next to his rice field, Mr. Vi Van Phiet, Dong Lung village, Chau Quang commune (Quy Hop) could not hide his sadness when 200 square meters of green rice suddenly died. Mr. Phiet said: "I feel so sorry. The rice plants were in the green stage, preparing to produce tillers, but now there are only a few leaves left. Just yesterday, I drained water at the foot of the field, but this morning, the rice died and withered. I thought the rice was sick, so I bought all kinds of medicine to spray, but after spraying, the rice still died." Mr. Phiet added that at first, the rice gradually withered, could not grow and then died. When pulling up the rice plants, the entire root was black. Mr. Phiet's family has more than 3 sao of rice, but the fields in other areas, planted with the same SL9 rice variety, did not die.

Not far away, the rice field of Mr. Kim Van Phuoc, Dong Lung village, Chau Quang commune also died. Mr. Phuoc's family is one of the households with the largest area of ​​dead rice in Chau Quang commune, with more than 2,000 m2. He said: "My family also planted rice seeds like many other households in the village, but after the rain in early July, I brought water to prepare the rice to tiller, but I saw that the rice stopped growing and then gradually died, and now there are only a few bushes around the banks.

Seeing the rice dying, I immediately planted water spinach, but the water spinach also did not survive. Now it is considered a total loss, there is no way to save it." Mr. Quang said that he and many people in the village suspected that the cause of the rice dying was the water source. After the heavy rain in early July, water from Tong Huong dam flowed in, and the rice of the families who brought water into their fields died, while the rice of the families who did not bring water in remained green and healthy.

After hearing the people's report, the commune authorities sent people to check and understand the situation of the dead rice. Up to this point, the area of ​​dead rice in Chau Quang commune is more than 40 hectares.



Department of Science and Technology staff coordinated with Quy Hop district to find the cause of rice death.

Mr. Vo Xuan Thanh - Vice Chairman of Chau Quang Commune People's Committee, said: The phenomenon of rice dying in the commune started to occur from the beginning of July, after a heavy rain. The area of ​​​​locally dead rice was scattered across many fields and concentrated in the fields near irrigation ditches and water intakes. The dead rice fields were planted by people with many different varieties such as SL9, GS9, CL25... This area is concentrated in Dong Lung, Diem Bay, Hoa Thanh, Pha Met, Cu, Dong Muong, Ca villages...

These are the villages that use irrigation water for production from Tong Huong dam and Bai Xong Ho. This dam is located in Chau Cuong commune, water from Chau Thanh commune (where there are tin mines) flows through the dam to serve irrigation production for people in Chau Cuong and Chau Quang communes. In other hamlets such as Ban Mon, Khanh Quang, Ban Ang... there is no phenomenon of rice dying. These hamlets get irrigation water from Bai Long dam in Chau Thai commune.

Mr. Thanh added: After learning about the rice death situation, the commune sent a report to the district. The district sent officials to check the situation but could not come to any conclusion about the cause of the rice death. Although there is no official conclusion yet, we suspect that the cause of the rice death is due to pollution from the water source from the tin mines in Chau Hong commune, Chau Thanh. Because at that time, after a heavy rain, the water flowed in was black, and when you put your hand in it, it felt slimy. Households that took water into their fields had a layer of black scum on the surface, and the soil smelled bad. Before the experts determined, the commune was directing people not to let water into their fields. And until now, the area of ​​dead rice has not increased anymore.

The phenomenon of rice dying is not only in Chau Quang commune but also in Chau Cuong commune, more than 16 hectares of rice also suffered the same fate. Mr. Sam Ngoc Hai - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: After the heavy rain in early July, water from the dam poured down, people let water into the fields and began to see the rice die. This area is concentrated in 5 hamlets including Muong Ham, Ha Dong, Tham, Nha, Nhuom and directly takes water from Tong Huong dam for irrigation. Currently, people have built culverts and drained the water in the fields. Initially, people thought that the rice was sick so they bought medicine to spray, some clumps have the phenomenon of green leaves again. However, according to Mr. Hai, even if the leaves turn green again, this area will not be harvested and is considered a total loss.

Faced with that situation, the District People's Committee directed the Department of Agriculture to coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Plant Protection Station and leaders of Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes to conduct inspections and examine the causes. However, the initial assessment results were that the cause of the rice death could not be determined. Therefore, the district sent a document to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Science and Technology, Plant Protection Sub-Department to establish a professional inspection team to review, verify, evaluate and conclude the cause of the rice death in Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes so that the District People's Committee could direct people in the two communes to switch to suitable crops on the dead rice area. Mr. Hoang Van Thai, Head of the District Department of Agriculture, said: Recently, the inspection team of the Department of Science and Technology went directly to Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes to collect water and soil samples for analysis and testing. We are currently waiting for the conclusion to notify the people.

It is known that this is not the first time that this phenomenon has occurred in Chau Quang commune. According to Mr. Thai, from 2009 until now, every year, people's rice has died with similar symptoms. In 2010, the area of ​​rice that died in the commune was more than 100/400 hectares of the whole commune. At that time, specialized agencies also came to inspect but still could not come to a conclusion about the cause of the rice death. This phenomenon mainly occurs in the summer-autumn crop, and less in the spring crop.

Chau Quang is one of the key rice communes, with an area accounting for more than 15% of the rice area of ​​Quy Hop district. Therefore, the death of rice without clear cause not only affects the lives of farmers but also affects the food security of the whole district. Therefore, finding the cause of rice death is an important task that needs to be actively and promptly taken care of by specialized agencies. From here, the district has measures to convert the crop structure appropriately to help people feel secure in production, in order to improve land use efficiency in the coming time.

Pham Bang