Drought prevention for winter-spring rice

If rice fields are in the flowering stage and are affected by drought, the yield at the end of the season will be affected.

This winter-spring crop, the whole province planted 9,820 hectares. Currently, early and main-season rice crops are in the stage of heading and flowering. The prolonged hot weather has caused thousands of hectares of rice to lack water. Of which, over 360 hectares of rice are severely drought-stricken, with a high risk of affecting the final crop yield, concentrated in the following districts: Dien Bien nearly 207 hectares; Tua Chua 100 hectares; Muong Nhe nearly 20 hectares; Muong Ang nearly 20 hectares; Nam Po nearly 12 hectares; Muong Lay town 25 hectares...

Dien Bien district has the largest area of rice affected by drought in the province, of which 137 hectares are severely drought-stricken. The rice areas lacking water are mainly in the communes of Thanh Yen (43 hectares), Noong Luong (39 hectares), Thanh Hung (8.5 hectares), Pom Lot (7 hectares), Thanh Nua (23 hectares), Muong Pon (18 hectares), Thanh Chan (27 hectares), Nua Ngam (9.2 hectares)...

People in communes in the Dien Bien basin pump water to irrigate their fields to combat drought.

Mr. Chu Van Bach, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Bien district, said: The drought-affected areas are mainly located on irrigation canals and areas reclaimed by farmers for production. To combat drought for rice, the People's Committee of Dien Bien district has directed communes to coordinate with irrigation management units to use high-capacity pumps to pump water from ponds, canals to drought-affected fields to irrigate, maintain the growth and development of rice plants and wait for rain. In addition, the People's Committee of the district has coordinated with Dien Bien Irrigation Management Company Limited to prioritize water sources for rice areas at the end of canals and on canals to combat drought.

These days, farmers in Lun and Lieng villages (Noong Luong commune) have to go to the fields early in the morning to build dams, raise water in canals, ditches, streams and use mini pumps to pump water into the fields that are starting to crack.

Mr. Tong Van Thien, Lieng village, Noong Luong commune, blocks the water flow to pump into the fields to irrigate drought-stricken rice.

Having just installed a mini pump and a nearly 50m long pipeline system into the field, Mr. Tong Van Thien, Lieng village, said: I have built a dam for this water area and waited for the water to rise for the past 5 days until now to install the pump. This crop, I planted 3,000m2 ^of rice. Currently, 2/3 of the area has been dry, the rice fields are cracked. Fortunately, the rice fields are all near the canal system, so it is still possible to install pumps for irrigation. In the village, many households cannot pump water because the fields are far away, the pump capacity is not enough to push water to the fields, so they have to wait for rain. Pumping water costs 200,000 VND for fuel each day. If this situation continues, rice productivity will be affected, the profit at the end of the crop is not worth much compared to the cost and effort.

Mr. Tran The Hoan, Chairman of Noong Luong Commune People's Committee, said: The work of preventing drought for rice has been deployed by the Commune People's Committee since the beginning of March. Since March 8, the Commune People's Committee has used large capacity pumps to pump water from ponds and lakes in the area into the canal system, then people block the flow and use small pumps to pump water into the fields. For more than a month, the government and people have been pumping water alternately to maintain the growth rhythm of the rice. However, due to the prolonged hot weather, the commune's small reservoirs and people's houses have run out of water, so the Commune People's Committee has been forced to stop pumping water to prevent drought.

Noong Luong Commune People's Committee pumps water from reservoirs in the commune to fight drought in drought-affected rice fields.

Dien Bien Irrigation Management Company Limited currently manages 34 irrigation reservoirs, dams, and pumping stations. Currently, the Company is actively coordinating with localities to regulate water and prevent drought for rice plants.

Mr. Le Van Thi, Director of Dien Bien Irrigation Management Company Limited, said: Up to now, basically the entire irrigation area managed by the company has provided enough water for rice plants. Only Song Un Lake (Tua Chua District) does not have enough water, and is currently at dead water level. Song Un Lake is responsible for irrigating 30 hectares of rice in Tua Chua Town and Muong Bang Commune. To combat drought for rice, the Company has deployed pumps to pump water from the bottom of the lake to the canal system to irrigate the rice. In Dien Bien District, the company is currently lending 4 large capacity pumps, including Sam Mun Commune (3 pumps) and Thanh Luong Commune (1 pump) to pump water.

The water level of reservoirs is low, Dien Bien Irrigation Management Company Limited has to implement rotational irrigation to save water.

According to forecasts from authorities, the average temperature from March to May in Dien Bien province will be 2-3oC higher; at the same time, rainfall will generally be 5-15mm lower than the same period last year. Therefore, localities need to actively implement measures to prevent drought for rice, minimizing damage caused by drought.

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