Urgently harvest winter-spring rice

This year, the whole province has planted nearly 26,000 hectares of rice. Thanks to the warmer weather than usual, the rice plants have developed favorably and the growing period has been shortened by 5-7 days. At this time, farmers in the province are busy harvesting rice with the joy of a good harvest and good prices.

Urgent harvest of winter-spring rice

Mobilizing machinery to speed up the winter-spring rice harvest in Hai Lang - Photo: LA

These days, the atmosphere of rice harvesting in Hai Lang district is bustling. In the fields, combine harvesters operate day and night, and at the rice drying points, people are busy drying rice, weighing rice and selling it to traders.

While loading bags of rice from the harvester onto the truck, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa of Kim Long Cooperative, Hai Que Commune, said that this winter-spring crop, his family planted 3 hectares of rice, mainly Khang Dan variety. Thanks to favorable weather and few pests, the yield was quite high, up to nearly 5 quintals of fresh rice per sao.

According to Mr. Hoa, determining that a quick harvest of rice is important to the production results of the whole crop, he has contracted 2 combine harvesters to harvest the entire rice area of his family. Another good thing is that currently the rice purchase price of traders is also at a high level, after harvesting, the rice only needs to be dried for about 1 session before traders come to buy the rice at a price of 8,200 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, he earns a profit of over 50 million VND.

The joy of a good rice harvest also came to Mr. Nguyen Minh's family in the same Kim Long Cooperative with an area of 2.5 hectares. Mr. Minh said that in addition to using the main rice variety Khang Dan, his family also sowed about 5 sao of Thai purple rice. The yield reached 3.5 - 4 quintals/sao for Khang Dan variety and about 3 quintals/sao for Thai purple variety.

According to Mr. Minh, not only is the winter-spring crop a bumper crop, farmers are even happier this year when traders buy rice at a high price, around 8,200 - 8,300 VND/kg of dry rice for the Khang Dan variety. In particular, his Thai purple rice variety is also purchased at 13,000 VND/kg, so the profit is relatively high.

Director of Kim Long Cooperative Nguyen Huu Phuoc informed that currently, the entire 162-hectare rice area of the Cooperative is entering the harvest stage, with an average yield of 7 tons/ha. Some well-cared-for areas have yielded up to 7.5 tons/ha.

The good news is that the rice purchase price is also currently at a high level. Rice dried in the sun for about one day is being purchased by traders for 8,200 - 8,400 VND/kg. Particularly for organic rice areas, businesses are purchasing at 13,000 VND/kg of fresh rice according to the commitment. "With the current rice price, it is estimated that farmers will make a profit of about 50%," Mr. Phuoc affirmed.

In the fields of Hai Duong commune, farmers are also busy harvesting rice at this time. Thanks to strict adherence to the crop calendar, the rice fields here are entering the mass harvest period.

Vice Chairman of Hai Duong Commune People's Committee Vo Trung Hieu excitedly said that there has never been a rice crop as good as this one, with an average yield of over 72.5 quintals/ha, of which the highest is Kim Giao Cooperative with a yield of nearly 75 quintals/ha. The purchase price of rice from traders at the beginning of the season is also quite high, up to over 7,000 VND/kg of fresh rice.

To facilitate farmers in harvesting rice, the Commune People's Committee has directed cooperatives to proactively review and grasp the situation of combine harvesters and closely contract with machine owners, divide suitable areas to regulate harvesters to ensure quick harvesting, and strive to basically complete the harvest by April 30.

At the same time, proactively source seeds and fertilizers; check pumping stations to get water for soil preparation. "The whole commune currently has about 240 soil preparation machines of all kinds. The local motto is to harvest, get water for soil preparation, and sow and plant to quickly deploy summer-autumn crop production according to the crop schedule," said Mr. Hieu.

This winter-spring crop, Hai Lang district has planted nearly 6,900 hectares of rice. Through field inspection and evaluation, the average yield is estimated at 66 - 68 quintals/ha. Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hai Lang district, Van Ngoc Tien Duc, said that this winter-spring crop was a bumper crop thanks to many favorable factors from the weather and good guidance on the crop calendar. Right from the beginning of the crop, Hai Lang district has directed specialized agencies to develop appropriate production plans, and at the same time assigned specialized staff to do a good job of estimating, forecasting and preventing pests and diseases, early detection and timely prevention of outbreaks and epidemics, minimizing damage caused. On the other hand, farmers have now made many changes in cultivation, focusing on balanced fertilization, adequate application of medium and micronutrients, thanks to which rice grows sustainably, has good endurance and gives high yields.

According to Mr. Duc, Hai Lang district is currently directing localities and agricultural cooperatives to mobilize human and material resources, instructing farmers to quickly harvest winter-spring rice. At the same time, proactively source seeds, human resources and plans to implement summer-autumn crop production. Increase land accumulation, expand organic rice production area, focusing on expanding organic rice production area associated with consumption linkage with businesses.

Head of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection Bui Phuoc Trang said that up to this point, the whole province has harvested about 5,000 hectares of rice, with an average yield of 61 - 62 quintals/ha.

Rice prices are also high, averaging 7,200 - 7,500 VND/kg of fresh rice for Khang Dan variety and 7,700 - 8,000 VND/kg for high-quality varieties. From now on, the harvest progress will be accelerated, peaking from April 25 to May 5, striving to basically complete the harvest before May 10.

According to Mr. Trang, in the coming time, there is a high possibility of thunderstorms and erratic winds that can cause rice plants to fall. Therefore, localities need to strengthen the direction of farmers to mobilize human resources and means to focus on quickly harvesting ripe rice areas, avoiding damage caused by natural disasters. At the same time, proactively source seeds, fertilizers, and get water to prepare the soil for the summer-autumn crop.

Le An

Source