Avoiding the heat, Nghe An farmers plant rice at midnight

(Baonghean.vn) - These days, in many fields in Nghe An, farmers are busy harvesting the winter-spring rice crop and planting the summer-autumn rice crop.

High temperatures combined with hot Lao winds make the water hot, the rice plants do not take root and die, so farmers cannot plant rice during the day. To plant rice on time, farmers in many places in Nghe An have chosen to go to the fields at 3-4 am and late afternoon to plant rice.

Taking advantage of the sunset, many families go to the fields to plant rice.

According to our records, people in Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Nam Dan districts... are busy working in the fields every evening.

Pulling out seedlings to prepare for transplanting

When the sun sets, it is also time for farmers to go to the fields to plant rice.

At 8pm, we arrived at the rice fields in Khanh Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District. Flashlights were looming over many fields. Under the flashlights, hands were nimbly planting rice seedlings in the mud.

Each transplanter must use a headlamp for light.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (45 years old, living in Khanh Hoa hamlet, Khanh Thanh commune) quickly planted rice in the field and said: “My family has 8 sao of rice fields. Because the weather is so hot, everyone has to get up at 3 am to go to the field to plant rice. Around 8 am, we go back to avoid the sun. In the afternoon, after dinner, the whole family goes back to the field to continue planting rice in time for the season and doesn’t go home to sleep until 11 pm.”

Lighting equipment is mobilized to serve rice plants at night.

These days, the work schedule of not only Ms. Hoa’s family but also most other families is completely turned upside down. During the day, people do housework and rest. At night, families go to the fields to plant rice, the work starts at 5 pm, just like the saying “eat rice by lamplight, plant rice under the moonlight”.

Lighting two bright light bulbs from his family's farm vehicle on his rice field, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa (residing in Vinh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) and his wife and children are still diligently planting straight rice clumps for the new crop.

“It’s been so hot these days that my family can’t go to the fields during the day, so we have no choice but to go to the fields at night. I drive the family tractor to the fields to generate electricity for my wife and children to plant rice. Although it costs a little money on fuel, it’s better than having my wife and children suffer from the sun,” said Mr. Hoa.

As the afternoon drew to a close, the rice planting work of farmers in many fields became more urgent and bustling.

Along Highway 1A, in the late-ripening rice fields in Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu districts, and Hoang Mai town, there is not a single person. However, every afternoon, in all the fields, a bustling working scene takes place.

Families mobilized all their manpower, from old men and women to students who had just finished their summer vacation, to help their families harvest rice. The voices and laughter were loud and the lights were on until late at night.

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