Boosting summer-autumn rice production.

Following recommendations from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, people in Chau Thanh A district have actively planted and cared for the summer-autumn rice crop with many new expectations.

Farmers in Chau Thanh A district are applying fertilizer to their summer-autumn rice crop during the seedling stage to help the rice plants grow quickly.

After harvesting the 2024-2025 winter-spring rice crop, Mr. Nguyen Van Chau and other farmers in the rice fields of Hamlet 4A, Tan Hoa Commune, Chau Thanh A District, continued to clean the fields. Once the required quarantine period between the two rice crops was met, they proceeded to sow the 2025 summer-autumn rice crop according to the local Department of Agriculture and Environment's planting schedule, simultaneously sowing all the seeds in the same field. Currently, the rice plants here are nearly 30 days old and developing well.

Walking around his family's more than 1 hectare of summer-autumn rice (OM 5451 variety), Mr. Chau shared: “In the recent winter-spring rice crop, I only sold my rice for 6,400 VND/kg (Dai Thom 8 variety), a decrease of 1,600 VND/kg compared to the same period last year. Although I am disappointed by the reduced profit, I will not neglect this summer-autumn rice crop. With the determination to continue boosting production, since planting the summer-autumn rice crop, I and other farmers here have been actively taking care of the rice plants. As a result, there have been few pests and diseases, and the rice plants are growing well. Farmers are very hopeful that the Vietnamese rice export market will be more favorable in terms of production and selling price in the near future, so that the purchase price of rice from farmers in the upcoming summer-autumn harvest will increase, contributing to improving farmers' income.”

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Chau Thanh A district, as of now, farmers in the district have planted 6,570 hectares of rice, reaching 100.92% of the plan. Two rice varieties that farmers in Chau Thanh A district prioritize for cultivation in this year's summer-autumn rice crop are OM 18 and OM 5451. Currently, the rice crops are concentrated in the seedling and tillering stages. Regarding pests and diseases, approximately 1,500 hectares of summer-autumn rice are currently infected, with some main pests including: brown planthopper, golden apple snail, rats, rice blast disease, thrips, small leaf roller, brown spot disease, weeds, etc. However, according to the assessment of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Chau Thanh A district, the density and infection rate of pests and diseases in the rice fields are only at a low level, so the potential for damage is insignificant thanks to farmers' proactive prevention efforts from the beginning of the season.

Mr. Le Van Khoa, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Environment Department of Chau Thanh A District, said: Thanks to effective propaganda and mobilization efforts, people in the district have actively sown the summer-autumn rice crop, thus helping the locality exceed the planned planting area. This is the first important factor that lays the groundwork for the district's Agriculture and Environment Department to successfully direct production in all aspects of this year's summer-autumn rice crop. Especially, given the volatile rice market, the solution set by the district's Agriculture and Environment Department is to focus on supporting farmers with scientific and technical assistance to help them reduce investment costs, increase productivity, and thus increase profits.

One of the models that helps people reduce production costs, contributes to increasing the value of rice grains, and meets the demands of the export market is the current initiative by the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Chau Thanh A district to encourage people to cultivate according to the production process of the high-quality rice growing area project. For example, at Phuoc Loc Agricultural Cooperative in Truong Long Tay commune, Chau Thanh A district, during the recent Winter-Spring rice crop, the cooperative linked up to produce 30 hectares of rice seeds according to the "Smart rice farming towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions" model, and simultaneously established a partnership with businesses to guarantee the purchase of the product at a price approximately 1,000 VND/kg higher than the market price. According to the cooperative's assessment, the rice yield in the Winter-Spring crop reached approximately 7.5 tons/ha (1,000m2), higher than the yield outside the model by 200-300kg/ha. Building on the success achieved, in this summer-autumn rice crop season, the leaders of Phuoc Loc Agricultural Cooperative continue to encourage cooperative members to replicate the model in order to bring high efficiency in rice cultivation for the people.

Mr. Tran Trung Kien, Director of Phuoc Loc Agricultural Cooperative in Truong Hiep A hamlet, Truong Long A commune, Chau Thanh A district, said: “Farmers producing high-quality rice all apply sowing methods using transplanting with 50kg of rice seeds/ha; simultaneously applying the technique of alternating wet and dry water drainage; applying rational and balanced fertilization; using rice leaf color charts to adjust the amount of nitrogen fertilizer accordingly; integrated pest management; and removing straw from the field using straw baling machines. In addition, farmers also apply mechanization in many stages of cultivation, thus reducing labor costs. Currently, the cooperative's summer-autumn rice crops are in the seedling and tillering stages, and the rice plants are developing well.”

Mr. Le Van Khoa, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Environment Department of Chau Thanh A District, added: Although the pest situation on the summer-autumn rice crop in the locality is currently well controlled, it is predicted that brown planthoppers, rats, rice blast disease, small leaf rollers, etc., will continue to appear and damage the rice plants. Therefore, the district's Agriculture and Environment Department advises people to proactively implement effective pest control measures on the summer-autumn rice crop, especially to regularly inspect the fields to promptly detect and treat pests when they first appear, preventing them from spreading to a wider area…

HỮU PHƯỚC

Source: https://baohaugiang.com.vn/nong-nghiep-nong-thon/day-manh-san-xuat-lua-he-thu-140557.html