Lacking machines and worried about the rainy season, Nghe An farmers rush to harvest by hand.

In the fields of Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong), people are rushing to harvest "running from the rain". Photo: Dinh Tuan

Working on 8 fields, the rice was ripe but waiting for a long time but still no harvester came to the field, meanwhile, according to the forecast, from May 23, there will be a lot of rain, Mr. Nguyen Doan Hoan (Ngoc Khanh hamlet, Thanh Ngoc commune, Thanh Chuong district) had to mobilize his children and grandchildren to go to the field to harvest by hand.

“If there was a harvester, 8 sao would be harvested in just 1-2 days. With the sun and dry straw, the rice would be much healthier. However, the harvester has not arrived yet. I cannot wait until the weather has changed and I cannot hire anyone during the peak season. Therefore, I called my children and grandchildren to come back for the 2-day weekend off to work. Harvest by hand, thresh by machine, and take advantage of the time to dry straw and rice before the rain comes. In the past two days, 5 sao have been harvested. The remaining 3 sao of rice fields in higher areas will be harvested later.”

Many fields in Thanh Chuong have not been harvested yet even though the rice is ripe. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Unable to wait for the harvester to return to the field when the rice was ripe, the weather changed from hot to rainy, so Ms. Nguyen Thi Van (Tien Quanh hamlet, Dong Van commune, Thanh Chuong) had to ask someone to harvest with a trimmer to "steal the sunshine".

“Compared to a combine harvester, harvesting with a trimmer takes longer and requires more work (harvesting, bundling, threshing) and is more difficult, but we have to accept it because we cannot wait for the harvester to come when it is about to rain,” said Ms. Van.

Without harvesters, people have to use trimmer to harvest rice before the small harvest season. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Currently, Thanh Chuong has just entered the peak harvest season, in many areas such as Thanh Tien, Thanh Ngoc, Dong Van, Thanh Huong, Thanh Giang, Thanh Nho... the harvested rice fields are very small (only 20-25%). Meanwhile, the local scarcity of harvesters has caused many difficulties for people in harvesting.

Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Chuong district said: "Currently, in Thanh Chuong, people have only harvested 50% of the area; many localities have only harvested sporadically. With the motto "green at home is better than ripe in the fields", the industry as well as localities have propagated and mobilized people to harvest rice before the rain.

In addition, the communes also proactively connected and contacted to mobilize harvesters from other places to harvest for the people; at the same time, they called on people to proactively harvest with trimmer machines, harvest by hand, and harvest at night to harvest rice, especially in low-lying areas.

In the low-lying fields, with the motto "green house is better than ripe field", 80% of the people have also harvested the ripe rice. Photo: Thanh Phuc

According to information from the North Central Hydrometeorological Station, due to the influence of the low pressure trough passing through the Northwest - Southeast axis through the Central region, from May 23 to May 31, Nghe An area will have moderate to heavy rain, some places will have very heavy rain and thunderstorms, strong gusts of wind accompanied by tornadoes, lightning, and hail. Weather developments will greatly affect the spring rice harvest season of localities.

Collecting straw from the harvested fields, clearing the fields to welcome the small rains, and keeping water for the summer-autumn crop. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Therefore, to ensure progress and bring rice home before the rain comes, local farmers are urgently harvesting. In the fields, harvesters operate continuously day and night; in places where harvesters cannot reach in time, especially in deep and low-lying areas, people mobilize hand harvesters and trimmer harvesters to harvest rice before the rain comes; on the roads, trucks, trailers, motorbikes, etc. quickly load and transport rice home; straw in the fields is also collected to avoid the rain.

Currently, localities are focusing on the spring rice harvest, striving to complete all areas. Due to the small harvest season, localities always closely follow weather forecasts to direct the speed of harvesting. At the same time, they notify people to proactively retain water, prepare the land, clean up and clear the flow, ready to enter the summer-autumn crop production.

Hurriedly bringing rice home. Photo: Thanh Phuc