Ready for winter-spring crop production plan 2023 2024

Arrange the season appropriately to "avoid" unfavorable weather

According to the assessment of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the weather in 2024 is expected to be hotter due to the influence of El Nino. The temperature in winter this year may be 0.5-1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the average of many years. Specifically, in the early winter-spring period of 2023-2024, cold air will be weak, severe cold and frost may appear late. Specifically, the Great Cold season on January 21, 2024 (ie December 11, 2023 lunar calendar), this is the period forecasted to have the highest frequency of severe cold and frost in the year. The Beginning of Spring season on February 4, 2024 (ie December 25, 2023 lunar calendar, before Tet).

In that context, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, Deputy Head of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: Localities need to pay special attention to arranging the structure of tea, varieties, and planting seasons to "dodge" unfavorable weather; expand the area of tray sowing, machine planting, and hand planting to reduce risks; seed suppliers and producers need to proactively reserve short-term rice varieties for re-planting when necessary. At the same time, ensure that the rice flowers in the favorable weather period around the Lap Ha season (concentrated from May 5-20, 2024).

According to Mr. Tuan, another disadvantage of the warm winter-spring crop is that pests and diseases will arise more frequently. Rice plants will have some pest problems such as rats, black-striped dwarf disease, leaf roller disease, and rice blast disease. Therefore, the provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection recommends that farmers increase the application of improved rice cultivation (SRI), integrated crop management (ICM), integrated pest management (IPM), plant health management (IPHM) ... in rice production, both creating conditions for healthy rice growth and increasing resistance to harmful organisms.

To produce in accordance with the weather conditions in 2024, the Department will direct the production of late spring tea as the main crop, with concentrated planting from February 4 to February 20, 2024. At the same time, increase the area of high-quality rice, varieties that are resistant to pests and adverse conditions.

Strengthen dredging of canals to ensure irrigation water

In the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop, rainfall is also forecast to be 5% to 15% lower than the average of many years. In particular, due to the impact of changes in the riverbed, the water level of the Red River has continuously decreased, seriously affecting the water intake efficiency of irrigation works. Moreover, this year, the Lich Xuan season combined with the first water intake taking place before the long Lunar New Year makes it very difficult to maintain the water source. Therefore, water regulation and rational and economical water use need to be paid attention to by all levels and sectors from the beginning of the crop.

Mr. Bui Trong Vinh, Deputy Head of the Provincial Irrigation Sub-Department, said: This winter-spring crop, there will only be 2 water discharges, the first from 0:00 on January 23 to 24:00 on January 30, 2024 (8 days) and the second from 0:00 on February 18 to 24:00 on February 21, 2024 (4 days). With this condition, the Provincial Irrigation Works Exploitation Company Limited needs to prepare well for maintenance, machinery repair, dredging of canals... to be ready to receive the discharged water. Localities must also arrange and demarcate the areas for transplanted rice and direct-sown rice reasonably, avoiding overlap. At the same time, strengthen solutions to retain water in the fields, limit water loss for a long time between the first and second periods (18 days), ensure to limit water loss and waste, and store enough water in the canals used for sowing and post-planting irrigation.

Also related to the issue of irrigation and irrigation water, at the conference to deploy the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop production plan organized by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, representatives of the Department of Agriculture of some localities said that currently, most of the main irrigation systems have been invested in a systematic and well-consolidated manner, but the intra-field canals have not been synchronized; the movement of dredging and doing intra-field irrigation still has many limitations. Therefore, in the context of increasingly difficult water resources as present, it is necessary to do better propaganda work so that localities and people are fully aware and more active in doing intra-field irrigation, creating favorable conditions for irrigation and drainage.

Focus on quality and efficiency

In the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop, the agricultural sector aims to continue to promote the structure of crops and plants towards improving productivity, quality, efficiency, and creating many valuable products through the acquisition and application of technical advances, especially new plant varieties. Synchronously mechanize the stages of land preparation, sowing, spraying, harvesting, etc. to cope with the shortage of labor in agriculture as well as reduce production costs. Strive to increase the area of high-quality rice, glutinous rice, and specialty rice to 80%, and the area of transplanted rice to 50%. At the same time, continue to expand the area of organic rice and vegetable production according to the value chain, and expand the forms of production linkage. Focus on converting the crop structure on inefficient rice-growing land. Encourage and facilitate businesses, collectives and individuals with the need to produce concentrated goods to rent land, borrow land, enter into joint ventures and associate with farmers to produce rice, vegetables, tubers and fruits.

Focus on building brands for the province's strengths and specialties, along with promoting the use of QR codes to make information transparent, trace the origin, and improve competitiveness. In addition, step up guidance for localities to evaluate, monitor, and issue codes for growing areas and packaging facilities for crops. The whole province aims to cultivate over 45,000 hectares of various crops, of which rice is over 39,000 hectares, the rest are vegetables, focusing on corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, lotus and various types of beans and vegetables... It is believed that with the experience from previous production seasons, the creative working spirit of farmers in the province, and at the same time continuing the momentum of good harvests and prices in 2023, the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop will be successful.

Article and photos: Nguyen Luu

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