Yen Thanh: Focus on preventing rice blast disease

(Baonghean) - Currently, many spring rice fields in Yen Thanh district are severely infected with rice blast disease. Farmers, local authorities and functional agencies are focusing on prevention.

On the morning of March 21, at the fields of Hamlet 1, Van Thanh Commune, farmers were actively carrying pesticide sprayers for rice. On the banks of the fields, we saw many packages of pesticides that had just been used and thrown away. Ms. Doan Thi Ban said: "My family has 6 sao of rice fields, of which 1 sao was severely infected with rice blast disease. 3 days ago, I visited the field and saw many brown spots on the leaves and stems of the rice. When I went to the District Plant Protection Supply Station to ask, the staff told me that this was rice blast disease and they sold me 2 packages of medicine to spray. After 3 days of spraying, I saw that the disease did not improve but got worse. Afraid of losing the crop, I went to the District Plant Protection Station again this morning to ask the staff and the station sold me another type of medicine. After buying the medicine, the staff of the District Plant Protection Station also instructed me on how to spray and take care of the rice."

Farmers in hamlet 1, Van Thanh commune spray pesticides to prevent rice blast disease.

Ms. Phan Thi Chau - a farmer in Hamlet 1, Van Thanh Commune, confided: "My family has 4 sao of rice fields, all of which are infected with rice blast disease. Yesterday morning, I saw district and commune officials come to the fields to check and confirm that all the fields here are infected with rice blast disease. The officials recommended that people use pesticides, so I went to the district Plant Protection Station to buy them for 72,000 VND and sprayed them on 4 sao."

At the district Plant Protection Station, we saw many farmers pulling up whole rice bushes to ask the station's staff to check and identify the disease. Mr. Minh in Dong Thanh commune said: In the fields of Dong Thanh commune, the phenomenon of rice plants with symptoms like this is very common. Farmers are afraid that this is "dwarf" disease so they come to the Plant Protection Station for advice. After identifying the disease on the rice plants, farmers buy medicine at the Plant Protection Station to spray according to the recommendations of the authorities.

The report of the District Department of Agriculture shows that currently, the district's spring rice is in the tillering period, but due to the cloudy weather and high humidity, it is a favorable condition for the rice blast disease to develop and cause damage. Up to this point, the whole district has about 50 hectares severely affected by rice blast disease, mainly on the rice varieties: BC15, Khai Phong, sticky rice, Q5, SQ2 in the communes: Van Thanh, Lang Thanh, Minh Thanh, Tay Thanh, Dong Thanh, Khanh Thanh, Lien Thanh... To prevent and control rice pests and diseases in a timely and effective manner, the District People's Committee has directed functional agencies to coordinate with local authorities to strengthen inspection, closely monitor the fields to detect and promptly forecast in fields where pests and diseases have not appeared.

For areas with disease, authorities recommend that farmers use specific drugs, especially spraying "4 correct" and taking care of rice in accordance with diseased rice conditions, ensuring enough water in the fields. For plant protection drugs, farmers should use the following drugs to prevent rice blast disease: Beam 75 WP, Katana 20 SC, Filia 525 SC (depending on the disease level on the rice to use drugs).

Xuan Hoang