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Bumper crop
But sweltering weather, water shortages threaten next season’s rice, maize harvest
Farmers nationwide have harvested a winter-spring rice crop totalling over 18.6 million tonnes, a rise of 312,000 tonnes over the previous season’s crop, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The total area under rice cultivation this season reached nearly 3.1 million hectares.
Favourable weather conditions and improved cultivation and disease control methods over the past growing season encouraged farmers in northern provinces to cultivate more than 1.15 million hectares, reaping an harvest of over 6.8 million tonnes, up 120,000 tonnes from the last crop.
Southern farmers have also recorded encouraging achievements, with the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region harvesting an output of 9.8 million tonnes, an increase of 23,000 tonnes over the previous crop.
Looming drought
The recent heatwave and evaporating water supplies may be threatening the next crop, however, with tens of thousands of hectares of rice and maize vulnearable to recent high temperatures reaching 37-40 degrees Celsius.
In the central province of Quang Binh, paddy fields have already become scorched and cracked and river and reservoir levels have fallen rapidly, leading to a high risk of water shortage.
The head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Office of Tuyen Hoa district, Nguyen Tri Phuong, said farmers in his district had already planted 900ha of rice and the drought had chapped many fields.
Farmers in the central province of Ha Tinh were in an almost fruitless search for water to rescue their newly-planted 42,000ha of rice hit by high temperatures.
"More than 1,080sq.m of my family’s newly-planted rice fields are at the point of death due to the lack of rain while canals in the commune have started to run dry," said Tran Thi Hong, a farmer in Thach Ha district’s Thach Ngoc commune.
Local authorities have pushed for rivers and canals to be dredged to help water flow into rice fields, but the manoeuvre is being hindered by the rapid decrease of water levels in many rivers and canals.
Director of Can Loc Irrigation Company Nguyen Hong Quang said all of its pumping stations were operating to help ensure water for irrigation and daily needs of the residents.
However, he said, in many areas, the water evaporation had increased rapidly in the hot weather and many rice fields were deteriorating because they had yet to receive enough water.
Provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairman Cam Van Chinh said that, in the northern mountainous province of Son La, prolonged heat spells had caused crop losses, particularly among maize growers,
Hoang Thi Hoa, a farmer in Chieng Dong commune, Yen Chau district, said, "My four hectares of maize have died as a result of hot weather. We reaped an average output of 30 tonnes each year but now all is lost."
Thirty per cent of the maize in Hua Pang commune – a granary of Moc Chau district – has died, said Lu Van Chung, head of the commune’s war veterans’ association.
"I have never witnessed such a severe heat spell. The remaining acreage of maize of the commune is likely to be damaged if the hot weather continues hitting the province," he said.
A shortage of rain has also caused 10,000-15,000ha of newly planted crops to wither in An Bien, An Minh and Vinh Thuan communes in southern Kien Giang province.
In order to help farmers cope with drought, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development would provide financial aid and pumps to bring more water for rice fields, Cultivation Department deputy director Pham Van Du said.
"The ministry will also take other measures such as dredging and upgrading rivers and canals and build more irrigation works to cope with drought," he said.
The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting warned that hot weather could continue hitting the central region for the next few days with temperatures ranging between 35-37°C.
VietNamNet, VietNamNews
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