Thanh Hoa: Farmers rush to harvest rice after storm

On the morning of September 14, the sun began to shine, farmers in many areas of Thanh Hoa province hurriedly went to the fields to harvest rice after storm No. 3.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (Minh Thanh village, Dong Quang commune, Dong Son district) goes digging rice in Bai Ngu field.

Recorded in communes such as Dong Quang, Dong Nam, Dong Van, Dong Phu (Dong Son district); Quang Van, Quang Yen, Quang Phuc, Quang Duc (Quang Xuong district)..., in some high places where the rice did not fall, farmers harvested by machine.

However, in many places there is still flooding, mud, broken rice so farmers have to harvest by hand. Currently, the price of hired labor to harvest rice is from 300,000 VND - 350,000 VND/day but there is still a shortage of labor. In some places, people exchange labor with each other. In places where the flooding is severe, the rice ripens first and the risk of spoilage and rot is high, priority is given to focusing on labor to harvest first.

From early morning, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (Minh Thanh village, Dong Quang commune) went to Bai Ngu field to harvest rice. It is called harvesting but in fact it is digging and digging rice from the mud and water.

Ms. Thanh lamented: “It’s a pity to throw it away, but a sin to keep it. The storm caused all the rice to fall, plus the prolonged heavy rain, so the rice had to lie flat in the water and mud. It’s been almost a week, because we couldn’t harvest it in time, so now the rice is rotten and sprouting. I just dug it up to feed the ducks and chickens. Being a farmer is so hard, man! If God doesn’t give us food, we’ll die!”

In districts such as Nga Son, Yen Dinh, Hau Loc, Hoang Hoa, many places have broken rice fields and flooded. Taking advantage of the sunny weather, farmers have gone to the fields to harvest and dry rice.

However, in Thach Thanh district, by the morning of September 14, the water had not yet receded. More than 300 houses and hundreds of hectares of rice in communes such as Thanh Truc, Thanh Tam, Thanh Cong, Thach Binh, Thach Cam... were flooded for many days and considered a total loss.

>>> Below are some pictures of Thanh Hoa farmers harvesting rice on the morning of September 14: