Quỳ Hợp - Dozens of hectares of rice crops destroyed: The cause needs to be determined soon.

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

Standing dejectedly beside his rice field, Mr. Vi Van Phiet, from Dong Lung village, Chau Quang commune (Quy Hop district), couldn't hide his sadness as 200 square meters of his thriving rice crop suddenly died. Mr. Phiet said: “It's heartbreaking. The rice plants were thriving, preparing to tiller, but now only a few leaves remain. Just yesterday, I was still flooding the field, but this morning, the rice was all withered and dead. I thought it was diseased, so I bought all kinds of pesticides to spray, but after spraying, the rice still died.” Mr. Phiet added that initially, the rice gradually withered, couldn't develop, and then died completely. When he pulled up the rice plants, he saw that all the roots were black. Mr. Phiet has more than 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares) of rice, but the fields in other areas, planted with the same SL9 rice variety, were not affected.

Not far away, the rice field of Mr. Kim Van Phuoc in Dong Lung village, Chau Quang commune, also suffered from crop failure. Mr. Phuoc's family is one of the households with the largest area of ​​rice crop failure in Chau Quang commune, with over 2,000 square meters. He said: "My family planted the same rice variety as many other households in the village, but after the rains in early July, when I flooded the field to prepare the rice for tillering, I noticed the rice stopped growing and then gradually died. Now, only a few scattered plants remain around the edges."

Seeing the rice crop die, I immediately planted water spinach, but the water spinach also didn't survive. Now it's a total loss, there's nothing left to salvage." Mr. Quang said that he, like many other villagers, suspected the cause of the rice crop's death was the water source. After the heavy rains in early July, water from the Tong Huong dam flowed in, and families who used the water for their fields saw their rice crops die, while those who didn't had healthy, green rice plants.

After receiving reports from local residents, the commune authorities sent people to inspect and assess the situation of the dead rice crops. To date, the area of ​​dead rice crops in Chau Quang commune is over 40 hectares.



Officials from the Department of Science and Technology are working with Quy Hop district to find the cause of the rice crop failure.

Mr. Vo Xuan Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Chau Quang Commune People's Committee, said: The phenomenon of rice crop failure in the commune began in early July, after heavy rains. The rice crop died in localized areas, scattered across many fields and concentrated in plots near irrigation canals and water intakes. The affected rice fields were planted with various rice varieties such as SL9, GS9, CL25… This area is concentrated in the villages of Dong Lung, Diem Bay, Hoa Thanh, Pha Met, Cu, Dong Muong, and Ca…

These villages utilize irrigation water from the Tong Huong and Xong Ho dams. These dams are located in Chau Cuong commune, and water from Chau Thanh commune (where tin ore mines are located) flows through them to provide irrigation for the people of Chau Cuong and Chau Quang communes. In other hamlets such as Ban Mon, Khanh Quang, and Ang, there is no sign of rice crop failure. These hamlets obtain their irrigation water from the Bai Long dam in Chau Thai commune.

Mr. Thanh added: After learning about the rice crop failure, the commune sent a report to the district. The district sent officials to investigate, but they could not reach a conclusion about the cause of the rice crop failure. Although there is no official conclusion yet, we suspect that the cause of the rice crop failure is pollution from the water flowing from the tin ore mines located in Chau Hong commune, Chau Thanh district. Because at that time, after the heavy rain, the water flowing in was black and felt slimy to the touch. For households that used the water for their fields, a black film has formed on the surface, and the soil smells foul. Before the specialized agencies determine the cause, the commune is instructing people not to let water into their fields. And to date, the area of ​​rice crop failure has not increased.

The phenomenon of rice crop failure is not only occurring in Chau Quang commune, but also in Chau Cuong commune, where more than 16 hectares of rice fields have suffered the same fate. Mr. Sam Ngoc Hai, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: After the heavy rains in early July, water from the dam flowed in, and people started irrigating their fields, only to see the rice gradually dying. This affected area is concentrated in five hamlets: Muong Ham, Ha Dong, Tham, Nha, and Nhuom, and they directly draw water from the Tong Huong dam for irrigation. Currently, people have begun to build sluices to drain the water from the fields. Initially, people thought the rice was diseased, so they bought pesticides to spray, and some clumps showed signs of green leaves returning. However, according to Mr. Hai, even if the leaves turn green again, this area will not yield a harvest and will be considered a total loss.

In response to this situation, the District People's Committee directed the Department of Agriculture to coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Plant Protection Station, and the leaders of Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes to investigate the cause. However, the initial assessment was that the cause of the rice crop failure could not be determined. Therefore, the district sent a document to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Plant Protection Sub-Department to form a specialized inspection team to examine, verify, assess, and conclude the cause of the rice crop failure in Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes so that the District People's Committee can direct the people of the two communes to switch to suitable crops on the affected rice fields. Mr. Hoang Van Thai, Head of the District Department of Agriculture, said: Recently, the inspection team from the Department of Science and Technology came directly to Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes to collect water and soil samples for analysis and testing. We are currently awaiting the conclusion to inform the people.

Reportedly, this is not the first time this phenomenon has occurred in Chau Quang commune. According to Mr. Thai, from 2009 to the present, the rice crops of the local people have died with similar symptoms every year. For example, in 2010, more than 100 out of 400 hectares of rice in the commune died. At that time, specialized agencies also came to inspect but could not come up with a conclusion about the cause of the rice crop failure. This phenomenon mainly occurs during the summer-autumn crop season, while it is less frequent in the spring crop season.

Chau Quang is one of the key rice-growing communes, accounting for over 15% of the rice-growing area in Quy Hop district. Therefore, the unexplained death of rice crops not only affects the lives of farmers but also impacts the food security of the entire district. Thus, finding the cause of the rice crop failure is a crucial task that requires the active and timely involvement of specialized agencies. From this, the district can implement appropriate crop restructuring measures to help farmers feel secure in their production and improve land use efficiency in the future.

Pham Bang