Yen Thanh: Farmers harvest rice at night while 'fleeing the flood'.
(Baonghean.vn) - With the motto "better to harvest early than risk losing the crop," Yen Thanh district is actively accelerating the harvesting of the summer-autumn rice crop to avoid flooding and prepare for the winter crop.
In Nhan Thanh commune, out of 560 hectares of summer-autumn rice, 100% of the area is flooded due to heavy rains. At this time, the rice is about 75-80% ripe, but the commune has directed farmers to focus on harvesting early to avoid damage from flooding; currently, over 70% has been harvested, and it is expected to be completed around August 25th.
 |
| At night, across the fields of Yen Thanh district, combine harvesters run at full capacity to harvest the summer-autumn rice crop before the floods arrive. Photo: Van Truong |
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Agriculture Department of Yen Thanh district, the entire district planted over 12,500 hectares of summer-autumn rice; as of now, over 5,000 hectares have been harvested. Of this, the low-lying area of over 3,500 hectares, concentrated in the communes of Nhan Thanh, Long Thanh, Khanh Thanh, Bao Thanh, Nam Thanh, etc., has reached over 90% harvest. All localities have put combine harvesters into operation, and it is expected that harvesting in low-lying areas will be completed by August 30th; for high-lying areas, harvesting will be finished before September 10th.
 |
| Currently, there are approximately 160 combine harvesters operating in the area, and 1,500 out of 3,500 hectares have been harvested. After harvesting, farmers are urgently preparing for the winter crop. Photo: Van Truong |
This year, due to stormy weather, rice yields reached approximately 50 quintals/hectare, a decrease of 5-6 quintals/hectare compared to last year.
The district directed that, after the summer-autumn harvest, winter crops would be planted on 3,000 hectares, including 1,500 hectares of corn and the remainder being various types of vegetables.
Van Truong
