Coping with severe cold

(Baonghean)The prolonged cold weather has adversely affected production and people's lives. Reporters from Nghe An Newspaper were present in some mountainous areas to report on cold prevention for crops and livestock.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Thuc - Head of the Tan Ky District Agriculture Department, said: The cold spell, sometimes down to 100C, has caused difficulties for farmers who are in the peak stage of harvesting sugarcane and cassava. Drizzle has led to muddy roads, making travel difficult, and the progress of harvesting sugarcane and cassava has slowed down. According to the report of Song Con Sugar Company, up to this point, the unit has purchased 110 thousand tons of sugarcane, equivalent to 2 thousand hectares out of a total of 5,700 hectares of raw sugarcane. Thus, there are about 2,700 hectares of sugarcane that farmers have to harvest in unfavorable weather conditions.



Officers of Tan Ky District Agriculture Department check rice seedlings during prolonged cold weather.

Regarding spring crop production, up to now, 100% of Tan Ky localities have planted rice and farmers have strictly implemented the work of keeping rice seedlings warm according to the instructions and directions of the district. Therefore, the whole district has not had any cases of rice seedlings dying due to cold. In addition, the district has issued documents to localities to direct cold prevention for livestock, such as: covering barns, not releasing livestock when the temperature drops below 160C, lighting fires to smoke barns and always ensuring food for livestock.



In the cold weather, Mr. Dang Thanh Long's family (Ky Son commune, Tan Ky) takes care of cows. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In Con Cuong district, the temperature has fluctuated from 14 to 160C in the past few days. These days, farmers in the villages of Chi Khe are plowing the fields. The whole commune will not plant the spring crop until February 2013. In Mon Son commune, which has the largest area of ​​rice fields in the district, the spring crop will be planted starting from January 10.

Mr. Lang Anh Hung, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Con Cuong district, said that this cold spell has not yet had much impact on the production situation of the people. There have been no reports of damage during the longest cold spell since the beginning of this season. In the two communes of Mon Son and Luc Da, there are 11 Dan Lai students from Thin village staying in 2 rooms given by teachers. Principal Le Van Tu said: "The collective of teachers of the school has deducted their monthly salary to buy beds and warm blankets for boarding students. So basically, the students do not lack blankets and warm clothes". Particularly at Mon Son Secondary School, where there are 38 boarding students from Co Phat and Khe Bung villages in the upper reaches of the Giang River, some in Lang Yen village are still lacking warm blankets. Here, each student only has a thin velvet blanket cover. Many students do not have warm clothes and have to burn firewood to keep warm.

According to the experience of the people of Con Cuong, this year the palm trees are very fruitful, signaling that the weather will be very cold. In many places, people are actively cutting grass and storing sugarcane tops as food for cattle in the winter. The habit of letting cattle roam freely of the local people has also been limited, so people will be more proactive in preventing cold for livestock.

In Que Phong and Quy Chau districts, although the cold has not had a major impact on production and life (students of all levels still go to school normally, and according to a quick report from the district's Department of Agriculture, up to this point, there has been no damage to livestock), the district's Department of Agriculture has advised the district People's Committee to establish 3 inspection teams to go to 3 regions (upper, lower and inner) of the district to direct the coverage of 100% of the rice seedling area; instruct people to cover buffalo and cow barns, store feed for livestock in barns as well as inspect and protect free-range livestock.

It is known that Quy Chau is one of the mountainous districts with the largest livestock herd in the province with over 20 thousand buffaloes, 8,800 cows, and nearly 25 thousand pigs. In February 2012, during the anthrax epidemic, 15 buffaloes and cows died in the district.

Previously, every month, the district directed the District Agricultural Extension Station to guide and coordinate with the communes to propagate information on the radio system to guide the villagers on how to prevent cold and diseases for livestock 2-3 times a month. At the same time, taking advantage of the warm weather, some areas in Quy Chau have planted the 2013 spring crop. In particular, some communes in the inner areas, because they have the initiative to provide irrigation water, have planted rice. In the face of the prolonged cold, the district has directed localities to regulate irrigation water appropriately to keep the rice warm.

According to the latest report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district, although the cold weather has occurred, there has been no damage to people and livestock. Learning from previous years' experiences, since the beginning of December 2012, the district has established a Steering Committee for disease prevention during the cold and rainy season; at the same time, it has issued a document directing the People's Committees of communes to proactively guide people to protect and reserve food for livestock when severe cold occurs; and has organized propaganda on the district's radio and television system on 2 topics on how to prevent cold for livestock.

PV Group