Why were nearly 3,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice in Nghe An lost?
(Baonghean.vn) - It is expected that the entire summer-autumn rice area this year will be harvested before August 30. However, for many reasons, by early September, the whole province still has over 10,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice unharvested, of which nearly 3,000 hectares of low-lying areas have been submerged by floodwaters caused by storms and rains.
The weather has been sunny for the past three days, but nearly 40 hectares of summer-autumn rice of the people of block 12, Hung Nguyen town are still submerged in floodwater. Ms. Phung Thi Hien, a farmer of block 12, Hung Nguyen town, said: "As of August 30, my family's 1 mau of rice has only ripened about 60%. Knowing that it is the rainy season, I, like other people, waited for the rice to ripen to increase productivity and value. The rain and floods have submerged all of my family's summer-autumn rice for a week now. Now the rice has sprouted buds and rotted, and it is considered a total loss."
Currently, Hung Nguyen town still has 100 hectares of summer-autumn rice that have not been harvested yet, most of which are low-lying areas, submerged by floodwaters.
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| 40 hectares of rice of farmers in block 12, Hung Nguyen town, during harvest season, submerged in flood water. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
In Nghi Thuan commune (Nghi Loc), nearly 200 hectares of summer-autumn rice had just bloomed, some of which were just green and firm, but prolonged rain caused the entire rice area to be flooded, causing damage of about 2 billion VND.
Mr. Dinh Van Kien - Vice Chairman of Nghi Thuan Commune People's Committee said: "Because it is located at the end of the river, during the time when the rice takes root, all 5 pumping stations in the commune cannot operate due to drought. Lack of water, then saltwater intrusion that must be washed away makes the rice growing period 15 days longer than other places, so the rice flowers late, not in time to harvest before the storm. Although we always advise people that summer-autumn rice depends a lot on the weather, erratic rain and floods, so we must simultaneously harvest spring rice, prepare the land, and plant summer-autumn rice according to the motto "harvest to where, plant there" but most people have not strictly followed it".
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| Up to now, many summer-autumn rice fields in Nghi Loc have just flowered and have full grains but have been submerged and completely damaged by floods. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
According to statistics from the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, during the recent flood, the whole province still has more than 10,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice unharvested, of which nearly 3,000 hectares were heavily flooded, causing great damage, mainly concentrated in Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Vinh City, and Quynh Luu.
“45% of the flooded rice area has ripened (about 70-80%) but people have not actively harvested it. The remaining 55% of the area is unusable because it has just flowered and the grains are not yet ready.”
According to Agricultural Engineer Doan Tri Tue - Chairman of Nghe An Plant Varieties Association, this year's summer-autumn rice crop was planted 10-15 days earlier than usual. If the season is on time, the harvest will be basically completed before August 25, avoiding storms. However, by early September, tens of thousands of hectares of rice have not been harvested, thousands of hectares of rice have been flooded and lost.
In addition to the objective factor of stormy weather, there are also subjective factors.
That is, some localities have not been really drastic in organizing summer-autumn production, ensuring the planting season has been lax, many places have not closed the area by June 20. Therefore, this late rice must be harvested after September 10, so it is impossible to avoid natural disasters.
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| According to engineer Doan Tri Tue, in addition to objective factors, the loss of nearly 3,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice came from subjective factors. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
