Rice growers are struggling because the canal is dry

This year’s winter-spring crop, farmers in the whole district sowed about 29,000 hectares of rice, about 50% of which has now been harvested. From the beginning of the year until now, in 9 communes and towns of the district, more than 80 canals have dried up.

The family of Mr. Pham Van Hien, 61 years old, in hamlet 2, Khanh Binh commune in the Northwest, has just cut more than 2 hectares of ST24 rice and harvested 23 tons, selling it for 8,700 VND per kg. This price is down more than 2,000 VND compared to before Tet and down nearly 1,000 VND compared to last week. In this case, his family only made a profit of about 40 million VND, a decrease of about 20 million VND due to transportation difficulties.

The main reason is that the canals are dry and traders’ boats cannot go to the place to buy, rice is transported to the main road by motorbike. The cost per ton of rice increased from a few hundred thousand dong to one million dong, so the owner had to lower the purchasing price.

According to Mr. Hien, during the record drought and salinity seasons of 2015-2016 and 2019-2020, there was also a situation where the rural irrigation system in the area dried up. This year, the drought came early so the canals dried up faster. The drought not only makes it difficult to transport agricultural products, but also reduces rice productivity and causes pests and diseases to prevail.

Every year, around the 10th lunar month, farmers in the freshwater region in Tran Van Thoi district will start sowing and harvesting rice in January to avoid drought. However, this year, the rain ended early, so in mid-December, the canals began to run out of water. At this time, the rice was more than 40 days old, and the amount of water in the field was not enough, so productivity was affected. The water dries up early and becomes contaminated with alum, which also makes the rice grain unstable, reducing the harvest by 100-200 kg per labor (nearly 1,300 m2).

Not far from Mr. Hien’s house, Ms. Nguyen Thi Rit, 63 years old, has just harvested more than a hectare of rice, earning nearly 15 tons. She said three days ago traders offered to buy ST24 rice for 9,100 VND but now it is only 8,700 VND per kg. Her family lost more than 15 million VND compared to the old price.

Ms. Rit said not only did rice prices decrease due to lack of transportation, but harvesting was also difficult when cutting machines could not enter the fields. According to the plan, the family’s rice area was cut 6 days ago, but because the canal was dry, the owner had to take the vehicle on a detour. “Rice takes a long time to ripen, causing each harvest to lose several hundred kilograms,” Ms. Rit said.

According to local assessments, the irrigation system is running out of water due to the early end of the rainy season, while many people focus on pumping water into fields and ponds to serve rice production and reserve it to raise fish and grow flowers. color. This has caused many roads to subside. Currently, the entire Tran Van Thoi district has had more than 330 landslides and land subsidence with a total length of about 9,000 m, with an estimated loss of nearly 12 billion VND.

Faced with the above situation, the District People’s Committee directed sectors and localities to strengthen measures to prevent and combat landslides and land subsidence, and protect works and traffic infrastructure. The district advises people to prune trees to reduce the load on frequently eroded routes, and limit water storage when not necessary; Do not dredge land and build houses next to rivers and canals, increasing the risk of subsidence and landslides.

According to forecasts of the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, this year’s El Nino state will repeat and is likely to last until the end of the first quarter. Due to the influence of El Nino, during the dry season months there is little rain. Off-season, drought is forecast to be more severe than every year.

An Minh