Nghe An 2023 spring crop achieves comprehensive victory

Good harvest, good price

After harvesting 6 sao of spring rice, Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc in hamlet 3, Dien Lien commune (Dien Chau) urgently went to the field to prepare the land and sow the summer-autumn crop.

“I am very excited, this year's rice is almost free of pests and diseases, which saves a lot of money on pesticides and I rarely have to spray pesticides in the fields. I keep a little of nearly 2 tons of rice for myself, and sell the rest fresh rice right in the field, saving the work of drying. This year, the rice purchase price is also about 1,000 VND/kg higher than last year,” Mr. Ngoc happily said.

With a rice yield of nearly 69 quintals/ha, the 2023 spring crop is considered a comprehensive success. Graphics: Lam Tung

With a yield of about 75 tons/ha, this is one of the best years in Dien Chau district, many models have a yield of over 80 tons/ha, some areas reach up to 90 tons/ha. Not only is the harvest good, but farmers are also very excited because the rice price is very good.

According to Mr. Vo Anh Khoa - Deputy Head of the District's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the high efficiency and production value of this year's spring crop is also thanks to reduced investment costs due to fewer pests and diseases; alternating sunny and rainy weather, favorable care and irrigation, so fertilizer evaporation and loss are reduced.

Nghe An farmers harvest spring rice. Photo: Quang An

“Although the early season was cold, thanks to the seedlings being covered with 100% plastic, there was no damage; for many years, spring rice in Dien Chau district was severely damaged by rice blast disease, even many fields were completely white due to leaf blight; however, this spring crop, dangerous pests and diseases such as rice blast and leaf blight almost did not appear. Another factor that helped Dien Chau district have a good harvest is the very advanced rice varieties, with high-yield, good-quality hybrid rice varieties accounting for 75% of the area, of which some varieties such as Quoc te 1, VT868 gave an actual yield of 3.9-4.2 quintals/sao; purebred rice varieties also followed the direction of productivity and quality with varieties TBR225, BC15, ADI28”, said Mr. Vo Anh Khoa.

If every year, the spring rice crop of Mr. Nguyen Van Tai's family in Trung Thuong village, Hung Tan commune (Hung Nguyen) only reached about 2.5 - 2.7 quintals/sao, then this year, with 7 sao of rice, he harvested nearly 2.3 tons of rice. Mr. Tai excitedly said: This year, the rice is almost free of pests and diseases, no need to spray pesticides but the yield is much higher.

Planting 6 sao of spring rice, Mr. Tai harvested over 2 tons of rice. Photo: Phu Huong

Being a good crop, the 2023 spring rice yield of Hung Nguyen district reached an average of 68.5 quintals/ha, 2.3 quintals/ha higher than the 2022 spring crop. According to Mr. Le Viet Hung - Deputy Director of the District Agricultural Service Center, at the beginning of this year's production season, the prolonged cold weather affected the rice planted before Tet, causing slower growth. However, throughout the season, the weather was quite favorable, especially this spring crop, farmers followed the crop calendar, variety structure and technical process quite well.

“If in previous years, many areas sowed early, this year, the production area before the crop schedule is insignificant, only in special areas in communes outside the dike, in the sandbanks, in deep depressions such as Chau Nhan, Hung Loi, Hung Thinh..., people have the habit of cultivating long-term rice varieties such as IR1820, Ci22, Ci23, so people plant rice seedlings early for early sowing,” said Mr. Le Viet Hung.

In particular, the spring rice production value of Hung Nguyen district is also very high, with over 95% of the area using pure rice varieties, of which over 70% are high-value, high-quality pure rice varieties such as TBR225, VR20...; the whole district has only over 30 hectares of hybrid rice varieties such as Thai Xuyen111.

With an area of ​​8,650 ha/plan of 8,000 ha, this is also the year Thanh Chuong district has the most successful spring crop in terms of area, productivity, output and production efficiency. At the beginning of the season, more than 1,000 ha of rice were affected because the pumping stations along Lam River could not operate due to lack of water, of which nearly 130 ha in remote areas, at the end of the canal in Dai Dong commune had reduced productivity. However, on the whole, this is the most successful spring rice crop in the past 5 years.

The weather is sunny and dry, favorable for farmers in Dien Chau district to fan and dry rice. Photo: Quang An

Favorable weather, good pest and disease prevention, basically disease-free rice fields; according to Mr. Le Dinh Thanh - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, the early issuance of the Production Project, drastic implementation direction, advanced varieties and people strictly following the crop calendar, are important factors helping Thanh Chuong district achieve that result. Currently, in many communes such as Thanh Linh, Thanh Lien, Xuan Tuong, Thanh Khai... people have gone to the fields to sow, with the motto of harvesting the spring crop and producing the summer-autumn crop. In particular, with the assessment that this year the hydroelectric reservoirs have no capacity to store water, Thanh Chuong district is more drastic in directing production, only restructuring in areas with complete water control.

The spring crop was a complete success.

This spring crop, Nghe An planted more than 91,400 hectares of rice. To date, the entire province has basically completed harvesting the spring rice area. According to information from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the expected yield is 68.09 quintals/ha, nearly 2 quintals/ha higher than the 2022 spring crop.

According to the general assessment, this is one of the most comprehensively successful production seasons in recent years. Key rice districts such as Quynh Luu, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau lead in productivity, reaching over 70 quintals/ha, however, all other localities in the province have had a comprehensive harvest, not only rice but also other crops such as corn, peanuts, and vegetables all have high productivity and value.

Joy of a good harvest. Photo: Quang An

Ms. Vo Thi Nhung - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: Nghe An has put into use advanced rice varieties with high yield and good quality; along with the participation and drastic direction of localities and functional departments and branches, it is worth noting that farmers have been very cooperative in complying with the agricultural calendar, applying the correct technical process, and preventing pests and diseases. Cold appeared at the beginning of the season, but unlike every year, this year the cold was short and intermittent, not lasting, almost not affecting the growth and development of rice plants, while the rice plants still had conditions to accumulate materials to create productivity. Especially, when the rice was preparing to flower, the weather was very favorable for the rice to flower as well as limiting the occurrence of pests and diseases.

In fact, the high difference in day and night temperatures, fog and humidity have caused rice blast disease to develop and cause damage in many areas, but a week before flowering, the weather was sunny with temperatures not high enough to affect rice pollination, causing empty grains and reducing yield, but enough to kill the rice blast fungus, significantly reducing the risk of damage caused by rice blast disease - one of the most dangerous diseases for spring rice. In addition, technical solutions and effective pest and disease control have helped the rice grow well and produce yield.

The 2023 spring crop is considered a complete success. In the photo: Rice harvest in Nam Dan district. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition, the set of advanced rice varieties, in which over 50% of the area uses new pure rice varieties, high-yield, high-quality and widely adaptable rice varieties such as TBR225, Thai Xuyen 111, etc., is increasingly expanded. Basically, all localities strictly follow the agricultural calendar issued by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Production guidance is more comprehensive, including water regulation, pest and disease prevention, and care processes throughout the crop, suitable for each growth and development period of spring rice. Not only is the crop good, but spring rice is also very expensive, at the beginning of the season, fresh rice is bought in the field at 6,000 VND/kg for hybrid rice, glutinous rice at 6,000-6,200 VND/kg, fragrant rice at 6,500 VND/kg, all higher than previous years by 500-1,000 VND/kg.