Local farmers are focusing on preparing the land and repairing field embankments in order to plant the winter-spring crop.

According to the plan, this year's winter-spring crop in Phong Dien town will see the planting of 4,950 hectares of rice, including approximately 200 hectares under VietGAP standards and 15 hectares under organic farming. To ensure a successful harvest, Phong Dien town has directed local authorities to continue implementing rice planting models/plans and methods that will yield results in 2024. Currently, communes and wards are directing farmers to focus on field sanitation, land preparation, and urgently planting rice to ensure timely planting and improve production efficiency.

Mr. Nguyen The (Hien Si village, Phong Son commune) said that his family has completed the land preparation for planting rice on 2 hectares of land. Since the beginning of December, he has been working in the fields, repairing the embankments, preparing the tillage machine, and gathering all necessary supplies and rice seeds... to plant the entire area of ​​his family's land according to the seasonal schedule.

Currently, people in Phong Son commune are actively preparing the land and getting everything ready to start planting the first crop, which will be completed by January 20th. The area covered is approximately 40 hectares, mainly concentrated in the Tan Quang and Bu fields, with rice varieties such as Khang Dan, HT1, HN6, HG244, etc. According to the leaders of Phong Son commune, in addition to the concentrated planting of the first crop at the Nam Son Agricultural Cooperative, the remaining area in the locality will continue to be planted and completed before the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake 2025 to ensure adherence to the seasonal schedule.

In Phong Chuong commune, the entire commune will plant 881 hectares of rice this winter-spring season. To date, farmers have prepared the land on over 600 hectares and have already sown and transplanted rice on more than 50 hectares. The main rice varieties include Khang Dan, HN6, HT1, etc.

Many areas in Phong Dien district have completed land preparation for the winter-spring rice crop and have begun sowing.

Ms. Tran Thi Thu Huyen, Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Phong Chuong commune, said that based on weather forecasts predicting complex developments, including the possibility of severe cold weather affecting rice growth, the People's Committee of the commune has directed cooperatives to mobilize farmers to organize the dredging of canals, clearing waterways, and rodent control. Because Phong Chuong is located in a low-lying area, based on experience, departments, units, and localities often focus on operating drainage pumping stations and sluices efficiently to ensure quick and effective water drainage; and organizing land preparation and sowing to ensure progress according to the seasonal schedule set by higher authorities.

According to Mr. Ho Don, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phong Dien town, to ensure a successful harvest, Phong Dien has arranged a suitable schedule to ensure that the winter-spring rice crop flowers concentrically from April 10th to 20th and finishes harvesting before May 20th. Regarding the variety structure, medium-day varieties such as X21 and Xi23 account for about 5% of the area; short-day varieties such as Khang Dan, DT100 (KH1), HN6, HT1, J02, DT39, HG12, TH5, and PC6 account for about 95% of the area. However, it should be noted that the rice varieties designated for mass production must be on the list of approved varieties for circulation by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and their production must be guided by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Furthermore, the locality encourages the introduction of several officially recognized rice varieties that are involved in product consumption linkages, such as VNR20, TBR225, Ha Phat, DB6, and TBR97, to gradually diversify the rice varieties in the town. In addition, they continue to conduct trial production of promising varieties such as HG244…

The head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Phong Dien town shared that, in addition to proactively securing supplies and seeds, the unit is currently focusing on disseminating information and encouraging people to plant according to the seasonal schedule, applying a comprehensive set of technical solutions as recommended by the agricultural sector. At the same time, they are ensuring a minimum 3-4 week time gap between rice crops to limit the impact of organic poisoning and prevent the persistence and spread of diseases.

The local agricultural sector also encourages farmers to replicate cost-reduction production models such as: "3 reductions, 3 increases," "1 must, 5 reductions," sustainable and smart farming, ecological technology models, and applying the "4 correct principles" in the use of pesticides and balanced fertilization. Simultaneously, localities need to urgently complete irrigation and dike projects serving agricultural production funded by various sources, and are requested to review the dike and irrigation system, quickly repair vulnerable and degraded areas, and develop plans to regulate water supply and drainage appropriately for production. In particular, when signs of disease outbreaks occur, it is necessary to quickly inspect and propose solutions to support and remedy the situation so as not to affect the people's investment capacity…

To date, Phong Dien district has prepared 3,382 hectares of land and planted over 220 hectares of rice. The entire 4,950 hectares to be planted this winter-spring season will be completed before the 25th day of the 12th lunar month of the Year of the Dragon (2014).
Text and photos: Minh Truong