Quynh Luu is rapidly increasing the use of tray seedling cultivation and machine rice transplanting.

Quynh Lam commune, Quynh Luu district, has been using tray seedling cultivation and machine transplanting for two years. The results show that the rice plants grow faster, are less susceptible to pests and diseases, and yield increases by more than 40 kg/sao (approximately 1000 square meters), while also reducing costs by 100,000 - 110,000 VND/sao compared to traditional methods. Therefore, from only 5 hectares of machine transplanting in 2021, the entire commune now has 66 hectares this summer-autumn season, primarily using PQ5 and fragrant glutinous rice varieties.

Using tray seeding reduces the amount of seedlings needed and the germination rate reaches approximately 97%. Photo: Hong Dien

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Lam commune, said: To encourage farmers to actively produce and reduce the abandonment of farmland, Quynh Lam commune has applied rice transplanters in conjunction with a production linkage program that guarantees the purchase of rice products during the summer-autumn crop season. Participating households receive local government support covering 50% of the cost of seeds, 50% of the cost of NPK fertilizer, and 40% of the cost of tray seedling preparation and machine transplanting.

Machine transplanting of rice offers many benefits such as: reducing seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and labor, contributing to increased yield and quality of crops. In particular, the local authorities have established links with companies inside and outside the district to purchase fresh rice immediately after harvest. This helps to change the mindset of small-scale, fragmented farming among farmers towards large-scale production.

Farmers in Quynh Lam commune (Quynh Luu district) sow rice seedlings in trays and transplant them after 11 days. Photo: Hong Dien

Quynh Lam commune is a leading locality in the district in applying rice transplanters to rice production, bringing many double benefits to farmers. Mr. Ho Van Sinh from Hamlet 9 shared: "My family has 30 sao (approximately 360 square meters) of rice fields. Before, each transplanting season was very difficult and worrying because finding people to transplant was hard and expensive. If we hired someone to transplant one sao of rice by hand, plus the cost of seeds and other investment costs, it would cost about 480,000 VND. Now, switching to using tray seedlings and transplanting with a machine has helped my family save 100,000 VND per sao, totaling 3 million VND for the entire transplanting season. Importantly, it also requires less effort compared to traditional methods."

According to Mr. Sinh, the outstanding advantage of tray seedling cultivation is that the seedlings are healthy and grow quickly, ready for transplanting within just 11 days of sowing. When transplanted to the field by machine, the roots are not broken, so the plants quickly take root, recover their green color, produce strong tillers, and are less susceptible to pests and diseases.

In Quynh Dien commune, during this summer-autumn crop season, the locality is implementing rice cultivation on 273 hectares. Of this, the commune has established a large-scale model field and applied machine planting on an area of ​​20 hectares, involving 140 households.

Thanks to the intact root system, the seedlings quickly take root, recover their green color, and produce strong branches after machine transplanting. Photo: Hong Dien

For households participating in the model, the commune provides financial support of 7.5 million VND/hectare, including seeds, fertilizers, labor for tray seedling preparation, and rice transplanters. In addition, the local authorities collaborate with and hire units to implement tray seedling preparation through each stage according to the correct procedures and techniques for the people.

Mr. Vo Trung Kien, an agricultural official in Quynh Dien commune, said: "To ensure timely completion, the commune has mobilized five rice transplanters to operate continuously in each field. Machine transplanting helps to maintain more uniform spacing between rows and rice plants, ensuring proper density; it also helps the plants absorb sunlight better, grow and develop faster. This is the first rice transplanting season in the commune, but it has been well received and highly supported by the people."

In rice production in Quynh Luu district, the mechanization rate for land preparation is over 95%, and for harvesting it is 87%. However, mechanization in planting and transplanting has remained limited. Evaluations of several rice transplanting models using machines in the district in 2021 showed clear benefits such as reduced labor, lower production costs, improved planting techniques, reduced pest and disease damage, and increased value per unit area.

People in Quynh Lam commune bring rice seedlings to the field for machine transplanting. Photo: Hong Dien.

“To shift the mindset in agricultural production from manual methods to mechanization, Quynh Luu district has strengthened its guidance to communes in building models of applying rice transplanters, linked with product consumption agreements and providing financial support to people according to Government Decree 35/2015. This creates linkages and gradually forms agricultural commodity production areas. Currently, in the summer-autumn crop season, three communes have built these models, covering an area of ​​150 hectares. In addition, the district has directed the dissemination of information to people regarding the policy under Resolution 18 of the Provincial People's Council on supporting 20% ​​of the value when using transplanters,” added Ms. Vu Thi Bich Hang, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Quynh Luu district.

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