Saving irrigation water in spring crop production

(Baonghean) - After a successful winter crop, farmers in the province are now concentrating on plowing the fields and preparing for spring production. In the fields, the plastic-covered rice seedlings have begun to sprout, ready for sowing, which is expected to begin on January 25.

According to the crop calendar of Tan Ky district, from January 5th all communes began to plant the first rice seedlings. However, in the highland communes, due to their own characteristics, people started sowing rice seedlings from January 1st, 2015. Although there is no longer any support policy from the State, most of the rice seedlings in Tan Ky are covered with plastic to protect against cold and rodents, and the seeds are carefully treated before soaking and incubating. The warm and sunny weather has made the rice seedlings grow very well, however, people still proactively reserve 10-15% of the rice seeds to prevent damage due to adverse weather conditions.

Farmers in Hung Dao commune (Hung Nguyen) prepare the land for the spring crop. Photo: cS

Head of the District Agriculture Department, Mr. Nguyen Ba Thuc said: This spring crop, the district has a policy of stabilizing the area of ​​crops such as rice, corn, vegetables, beans and reducing the area of ​​peanuts, increasing the area of ​​sugarcane, especially in the riverbank areas that are often affected by drought. The whole district strives to achieve 34,842 tons of food, including 27,342 tons of rice and 7,500 tons of corn. Currently, there is still enough water to irrigate rice, but it is possible that by the end of the spring crop, the dams in the area will run out of water if there is no rain. Pumping stations along the Con River are more proactive, but can only meet the irrigation water needs for about 30 - 35% of the rice area in the area.

Therefore, using water as economically as possible is currently the district's top concern, in an effort to preserve water resources at least for the rice seedlings. "The most worrying thing right now is the newly planted sugarcane area. In the plan, we expect to have 7,000 hectares of sugarcane, of which 2,500 hectares will be newly planted, including 700 hectares for the autumn-winter crop and 1,800 hectares for the spring crop. However, due to the low rainfall this year, many areas have been cut down but cannot be replanted, or in areas that have been planted, the germination rate is also very low. We are mobilizing people to try to take advantage of the available water source to irrigate sugarcane, but it is not significant," Mr. Thuc shared.

In Quynh Luu district, up to this point, about 50% of the area has been ready for spring crop production, the remaining areas, people have focused on cleaning the fields and tilling the land. Up to now, most communes in the district have completed land consolidation, traffic improvement, and internal irrigation, so currently more than 90% of the land area is being worked by machines, both speeding up production progress and freeing up labor and increasing production efficiency. As a crop that has been focused on intensive investment by the Party Committees, authorities of communes, towns and people, this year Quynh Luu entered spring crop production with quite favorable conditions. Irrigation canals, drainage canals and works serving agricultural production are continuing to be invested in, repaired and upgraded.

Scientific and technical advances, technical processes such as intensive peanut cultivation covered with plastic, integrated pest management (IPM), 3 reductions 3 increases (ICM), improved rice cultivation (SRI) are being widely applied by people. Some new rice varieties with high yield and good quality have been confirmed and added to the variety structure. However, it is determined that there are still difficulties such as spring weather often has unfavorable developments for crops, early season often has severe cold spells, especially for rice seedlings, so the district has directed people to cover 100% of the area with plastic. From the beginning of January 2015, in some deep, saline areas where old seedlings need to be planted in the communes of Quynh Thanh, Quynh Dien, Quynh Hung, Quynh Ba... people have started to plant seedlings, it is expected that depending on the season and region, the planting will be done sooner or later, but on January 20, the planting will be completed in the whole district. “Due to low rainfall in 2014, some dams have not yet accumulated enough water, and some are under repair, so there is no water for production.

The implementation of upgrading Ba Tuy, Hoc Met, Ho Trung dams and some other dams has affected the water storage for the 2015 spring crop production in Quynh Tan, Quynh Chau, Tan Son communes..., some areas at the end of irrigation canals, highlands, and areas where crops are often lacking water and not proactive in water sources, so this spring crop we will convert some rice areas to grow corn and other drought-resistant crops. We strive to have over 50% of the area planted with high-quality rice varieties" - Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh - Head of the district's Agriculture Department said.

This spring crop, with the policy of arranging a reasonable crop structure and crop season based on the conditions of each region, promoting the conversion of crop structure in difficult areas to ensure safety as well as increase income per unit area, the whole province strives to plant 86 thousand hectares of rice, of which 16 thousand hectares are quality rice; 17 thousand hectares of corn. In the orientation of the variety structure, only rice varieties that have been officially recognized and have passed good models and trials in Nghe An will be included. This year, the beginning of spring coincides with February 4, 2015, which is December 16, 2014 of the lunar calendar. Localities will base on the growing time of each variety and actual conditions to arrange a suitable crop schedule, ensuring that spring rice blooms from April 25 to May 5, and in flood-prone areas from April 20 to April 25. From there, the sowing schedule was determined from January 5 to January 25 to finish sowing before February 15. According to forecasts, the province will soon be affected by increased cold air, plus many years of experience in the early spring crop, often with severe cold, so covering with plastic is focused on to ensure good growth and development of seedlings.

According to the forecast of the Hydrometeorology Department, this year's spring crop is expected to take place in high temperature weather conditions, with a high risk of water shortage due to low rainfall in 2014. According to Mr. Ho Ngoc Sy - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Agriculture and localities are focusing on directing irrigation units and people to use water very economically. In areas at the end of the canal, areas using water from dams, and areas that do not have full water control, the crop structure should be changed from rice to other drought-resistant crops, with special attention paid to corn. One thing worth noting is that the field mouse problem is currently developing very strongly, which is a very big threat that can affect spring crop production. Therefore, localities need to soon launch a rat extermination campaign to protect crops. Along with that, with the current weather trend and according to forecasts, pests in this year's spring crop are likely to appear early and develop strongly; Rice blast disease can appear right after the rice is planted, even on the seedlings. Therefore, farmers need to regularly visit the fields and check carefully to detect and prevent it in time, minimizing the harmful effects of pests on spring rice.

Phu Huong