Urgently harvest rice crops submerged after the flood.

Due to the heavy and prolonged rainfall from the evening of July 29th and throughout July 30th, 475 hectares of summer-autumn rice in Ham Thuan Bac district were flooded. Many of these areas were in the ripening stage and nearing harvest.

Immediately after the floodwaters receded, farmers rushed to harvest their crops in these areas; however, the harvesting process was fraught with difficulties and the damage was considerable.

Mr. Ngo Van Nho, residing in Hamlet 2, Thuan Minh Commune, Ham Thuan Bac District, cultivated nearly 0.6 hectares of rice during the summer-autumn season. By the end of July, the rice had ripened to a golden yellow, so his family was preparing to hire a combine harvester. However, after a prolonged heavy rain, a sudden flood struck, catching him off guard, and two-thirds of his family's rice fields were submerged. After the floodwaters receded, he immediately began harvesting the flooded areas; however, due to the fallen rice stalks and the waterlogged fields, the harvesting process proved very difficult.

“This year the rice crop is beautiful, and we expected a higher yield than in previous years. We planned to harvest on the morning of August 1st, but on the evening of July 30th, floodwaters inundated everything, and the rice plants were flattened. When the floodwaters receded, I had to hire people to go down to the fields and prop up each rice plant so that a combine harvester could be used. Otherwise, we would have had to accept harvesting by hand…” Mr. Nho said.

Due to the recent heavy rains and floods, nearly 0.3 hectares of rice fields, ready for harvest, belonging to Mr. Tran Van Diep in Hamlet 2, Thuan Minh Commune, were deeply submerged. In recent days, taking advantage of the receding floodwaters, he hired a harvesting machine to harvest the entire area. However, because the rice plants were flattened and the grains were soaked in mud for many days, the damage was significant. “Even young rice plants would be damaged by normal flooding, but this ripe rice was submerged for many days, with some areas flattened in the mud and sprouting; I estimate that about 50% of my family's rice crop is damaged,” Mr. Diep shared.

According to statistics, eight communes in the district have rice fields that were flattened or deeply submerged due to the heavy rains and floods at the end of July. This not only affects rice yield and quality, but also increases costs and delays the harvesting process. Most worryingly, the areas of ripe rice submerged for many days have a very high risk of germination; while the areas of flattened rice increase harvesting costs for farmers…

To minimize damage, in recent days, in addition to focusing on clearing the flow of flood drainage canals and natural streams, Ham Thuan Bac district has directed localities within the district to encourage farmers to quickly harvest all ripe rice fields that were submerged in water as soon as the floodwaters recede.

Simultaneously, conduct inspections, compile statistics, and accurately assess the extent of the damage, creating a list of affected households to provide timely assistance.

According to statistics and surveys, the entire commune has approximately 51 hectares of summer-autumn rice crops in the ripening stage that have been flooded, with many areas suffering 30-50% damage, and a small number of areas suffering about 70% damage, mainly in low-lying areas with poor drainage such as Hamlet 1, Hamlet 2 and Doc Lang Hamlet…”.