Floating rice plants on alum fields

Where there is flood, there the rice grows.

To get to the floating rice field, we contacted Mr. Dang Van Cuoc - an agricultural technical officer of Vinh Gia commune in advance. As soon as we arrived at the vast water field, we met Mr. Cuoc at the beginning of the concrete bridge under construction. On the other side of the canal, Mr. Cuoc guided us to turn the car back and then turn right across the cable-stayed suspension bridge to continue. The roads here are like a maze; if you are not a local, you can easily get lost in this "yawning" field. After driving for a long time and not reaching the destination, we asked Mr. Cuoc: "Are we almost there yet?". Mr. Cuoc answered loudly: "A few more kilometers to the floating rice field".

Floating rice plants grow with the flood water level. Photo: THANH CHINH

Crossing the dike, we saw farmers sitting and waiting to pump water to prevent flooding in their rice fields that were bending. This year, the flood was so great that the water level was close to the dike. Some farmers were worried that they would not be able to harvest their rice fields in time, so they had to be on standby to drain the water to prevent flooding. Continuing across the concrete bridge, we reached the canalside hamlet. When the flood season came, the Long Xuyen quadrangle was flooded. Some sections of the canal banks were knee-deep, yet farmers still drove back and forth every day to take their children to school and to the market. Passing through the sparsely populated, desolate hamlet, we imagined that we were lost in a remote area of several decades ago, the time when our ancestors went to reclaim the alum fields.

We arrived at the corrugated iron house, and Mr. Duong Minh Giang (30 years old) received us, who has lived in this field since childhood and has experienced the hardships of the alum field. Pointing to the floating rice field stretching out before the storm, Mr. Giang boasted: “This flood season, my family planted 5 hectares of rice, and the rice is now in full bloom. Every day I go out to watch the floating rice grow with the water. Wherever the water rises, the rice grows taller, looking very enchanting.”

Conservation for passion

Listening to Giang's story, we felt the passion of this young farmer for floating rice on the alum soil field. Giang led us down the composite boat across the green floating rice field. He stuck the pole deep into the water, then lifted it up to show us the water level, which was nearly 1.7m deep. However, the rice plants were 0.6m higher than the water surface. The boat swept through the field, but the rice plants that had just fallen into the water surface stood up straight, swaying in the wind. "The rice plants are not affected by the circulation of many storms that pass through during the flood season, so every year I love to grow this rice variety. Taking advantage of the flood season, I also set up fishing lines and cast nets around the fields to catch fish, and if I can't finish eating them all, I make fish sauce," Giang said.

Floating rice plants are 0.6m above flood water level. Photo: THANH CHINH

Currently growing 5 hectares of floating rice in this alum field, Mr. Giang said that the characteristic of this rice variety is that it adapts to conditions of heavy floods. In the 5th lunar month, Mr. Giang soaks, incubates seeds, and sows rice. When the water covers the field, the rice plants grow with the daily flood. “The cultivation process does not require fertilizer or pesticides… The floating rice is super clean, without weeds, pests, or planthoppers. In December, when the water dries up, it is time for farmers to harvest. After that, I grow cassava to earn more income,” Mr. Giang said.

Floating rice has low yield. Currently, the price of rice is only 8,000 VND/kg, the cultivation period is 6 months, after deducting expenses, farmers do not make any profit. “Previously, Loc Troi Group signed a contract to purchase floating rice products at a price of 15,000 VND/kg. It seems that this rice market is not popular, so the company no longer signed a contract with farmers. After that, farmers produced floating rice and sold it to traders at a low price. According to experts, super clean floating rice is considered an organic product, very good for health,” said Mr. Giang.

Mr. Dang Van Cuoc said that in the entire alum field area, there are still 17 households cultivating floating rice with an area of 60.5 hectares. In the past, hundreds of hectares of floating rice were cultivated here, but due to unstable prices, farmers were not interested in this rice variety. To preserve floating rice in the alum field, businesses need to sign contracts to purchase the products so that farmers can feel secure in production. "Many farmers have the idea of serving tourists who come here to explore the technique of growing floating rice on flooded fields," Mr. Cuoc said.

Master Le Thanh Phong - Deputy Director of the Institute of Climate Change, An Giang University, specializing in research, conservation and breeding of floating rice varieties, said that floating rice in Vinh Gia commune's fields is cultivated by farmers "in accordance with nature". Currently, farmers are preserving the genetic resources of local varieties. Through research and survey of floating rice in alum fields, Mr. Phong said that if the market and price are not stable, the area of floating rice cultivation will gradually decrease over the years.

On a sunny afternoon, saying goodbye to the barefoot farmers in the Long Xuyen quadrangle fields, looking back at the floating rice fields, we hope that in the future, large enterprises will come to purchase super clean products in the alum fields to help farmers reduce their hardship.

Master Le Thanh Phong said: “There is a company in Ho Chi Minh City that is purchasing old, hard-rice floating rice to make pho noodles for export to Europe. However, this company has only started purchasing for 2 years and is purchasing products in Vinh Chau commune, Tay Ninh province. I invited the company to purchase floating rice in An Giang. Since it is a new start-up, the owner of this company said that in the future, it will gradually expand the scale of purchasing floating rice products.”

THANH CHINH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/cay-lua-mua-noi-tren-dong-phen-a466979.html