Finding solutions to avoid natural disasters and epidemics for the summer-autumn crop

(Baonghean) -Learning from the failure of last year, entering the summer-autumn and winter-spring crop this year, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An organized a conference for the whole industry to consult with experts on hydrometeorology, plant protection, and varieties to find solutions to avoid drought, storms, floods, etc. to ensure a safe and high-yielding summer-autumn crop.

The 2010 summer-autumn and winter-spring crops suffered heavy losses, of which 59,654 hectares of summer-autumn and winter-spring rice and 30,588 hectares of corn and vegetables were damaged, mainly due to drought and floods.

The industry-wide conference had experts in hydrometeorology, plant protection, varieties and key leaders of districts, cities and towns to find a new direction in how to both save irrigation water and ensure prevention of dangerous diseases, such as black-striped dwarf disease, avoid drought, storms and floods... to ensure a safe summer-autumn crop with high productivity and output. The target for the summer-autumn crop in 2011 set by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is to strive to plant 97,000 hectares of rice (including 55,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice and 42,000 hectares of winter-spring rice), 13,000 hectares of corn and other crops such as: 2,000 hectares of peanuts, 7,000 hectares of beans, 6,000 hectares of sesame, 9,000 hectares of vegetables (of which watermelon accounts for 1,000 hectares)...

Mr. Tu Trong Kim (Head of Cultivation Department, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) said: To ensure the above objectives, the factor of summer-autumn rice and early-season rice varieties must be structured to be short-term (growing period under 100 days) and must be produced safely in localities. Do not introduce varieties that are heavily infected with planthoppers to avoid black-striped dwarf disease. For low-lying, flooded areas, rice varieties that can be harvested before September 5, 2011 must be arranged; priority must be given to using short-term rice varieties such as Viet Lai 20, Viet Lai 24, Q.uu 1, Q.uu 6, PAC807, PC6; glutinous rice 352, glutinous rice 87... Rice varieties such as Khai Phong 7, TH 3-3, TH 3-4, TH 3-5, Bac Uu 11, Bio 404; Syn 6; Nghi Huong 2308, Bac Thom No. 7 and Nep 97... To ensure enough irrigation water for summer-autumn rice and winter-spring rice, it is recommended that localities convert areas that cannot be irrigated to corn. Use drought-resistant corn varieties with a short growing period to ensure safety. Priority should be given to drought-resistant corn varieties such as: C 919, B 06, NK 66, NK 67, NK 6326, CP 888, LVN 10; LVN 14 and short-term, high-yielding waxy corn varieties such as MX2, MX4...

Mr. Nguyen Van Lap (Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) added: The important thing to avoid a repeat of last year's summer-autumn crop is that from now on, localities must assess the impact of the weather in the spring crop of 2011. This is an important factor in accurately planning the planting season for the summer-autumn crop and the winter-spring crop. In addition to the factors of saving water and avoiding floods, it is also necessary to make a good assessment of the disease situation, especially the small leaf roller, black-striped dwarf, and stem borer diseases in the locality.

The use of water in dams and natural water sources in the area needs to have appropriate plans. The following solutions must be noted: Absolutely do not do the summer-autumn crop at all costs. In areas where there is definitely a shortage of irrigation water, switch to growing drought-resistant crops; seedling must be planted early to reduce the growth time of rice in the field and be transplanted in time after the spring rice harvest. Do not use rice varieties with a growth time of more than 110 days in the summer-autumn crop, especially in low-lying fields that have to be flooded. Localities must propagate to raise awareness among people about saving available water resources in reservoirs and dams and proactively build drought-proof situations for summer-autumn rice when the weather is complicated.

Ngoc Anh