Lack of machines, fear of short-term rain, Nghe An farmers rush to harvest by hand

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

Working on 8 sao of rice fields, the rice was ripe but waiting forever but still no harvester came to the field, meanwhile, according to the forecast, from May 23, it will be the season of Tieu Man, with 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 grow much healthier. However, the harvester has not arrived yet. We cannot wait until the weather has changed and we 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. We harvest by hand, thresh by machine, and take advantage of the time to dry straw and rice before the rain comes. We have harvested 5 sao in the past two days, and we will harvest the remaining 3 sao of rice fields in higher areas 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 and sunny 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 sun".

“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 back when it is about to rain,” said Ms. Van.

Without harvesters, people have to use trimmer machines 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 scarcity of harvesters locally makes it difficult for people to harvest.

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 promoted and mobilized people to harvest rice before it rains.

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, hand harvesters, and take advantage of night harvests to harvest rice, especially in low-lying areas.

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

According to information from the North Central Hydrometeorological Station, due to the influence of a low pressure trough passing through the Northwest - Southeast axis through the Central region, from May 23 to May 31, Nghe An 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, keeping water to prepare the soil 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 return in time, especially in deep-lying areas, people mobilize hand harvesters and trimmer harvesters to harvest rice before the rain comes; on the roads, trucks, tractors, 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 transition to the small-season crop, localities are always closely following weather forecasts to direct the acceleration of the harvest. At the same time, they are informing 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