Damaged rice seeds, Khanh Hoa farmers need support

Historic floods have damaged rice seeds, causing great difficulties for farmers in Khanh Hoa. The agricultural sector is urgently implementing plans to restore production.

All the rice seeds were damaged.

From November 16 to 22, Khanh Hoa province had to endure prolonged heavy rains, with total rainfall ranging from 450 - 950mm. The water level of rivers and streams rose, exceeding historical flood levels (floods on rivers in Khanh Hoa province exceeded alert level 3 by 0.35-2.75m, especially Dinh Ninh Hoa river exceeded the historical flood mark of 1986 by 0.19m), causing widespread flooding, seriously affecting people's lives and production activities.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, in Dai Dien Dong 1 village, Dien Dien commune, said that all the rice for eating and rice seeds were flooded and damaged. Photo: KS.

According to the representative of Khanh Hoa Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, the recent floods have caused serious flooding, affecting 57/64 communes and wards in the province. In particular, the rice seed source for farmers' production has been completely wet and damaged.

In Dien Dien commune, the “flood center”, heavy rains and floods have caused most of the local people to be deeply submerged, with an average water level of 1.5 m to over 2 m. Rice seeds, the source of production capital for the people, were therefore also damaged and lost.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, in Dai Dien Dong 1 village, said that although her family tried to raise 10 bags of rice and 2 bags of rice seeds (average 60 kg/bag), because the water in the house was over 1.5 meters deep, all of this rice was completely damaged. Currently, her family has no more rice seeds to reproduce.

Rice seeds germinated because they were flooded, so people dried them to use for poultry. Photo: KS.

The leader of Dien Dien Commune People's Committee also confirmed that 9,757 households were flooded due to heavy rains and floods. All 5 agricultural cooperatives in the area were flooded, causing rice seeds to be completely damaged. This makes it very difficult for people to find seeds for sowing. Therefore, he recommended that the province pay attention to supporting timely seed production for the 2025-2026 winter-spring crop.

Agriculture sector takes urgent action

To proactively overcome the consequences and guide people to restore production, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Khanh Hoa has issued an emergency plan to restore agricultural production damaged by floods. In particular, the work of supporting rice production must be completed before December 15.

Regarding cultivation, the Department requested localities to urgently drain water, clean fields, improve soil after flooding, plow and prepare seeds for the 2025-2026 winter-spring crop according to the crop schedule. The provincial agricultural sector recommended that farmers prioritize draining water and thoroughly draining rice fields, applying all measures to create conditions for the fields to dry early.

Rice seeds were damaged by flooding. Photo: KS.

For areas of ripe rice that have fallen over, it is necessary to harvest early according to the motto "green at home is better than old in the field" to minimize damage. For areas that have been filled with soil, it is necessary to remove the alluvial soil, clean the fields and prepare seeds according to the crop schedule. After the flood, people need to pay attention to monitor and instruct timely prevention of harmful objects such as brown spot disease, blast disease, black spot disease, leaf blight disease, stem borers, brown planthoppers, white-backed planthoppers, which have the potential to cause strong damage.

To ensure production, the Department's crop and plant protection stations urgently contacted localities to agree on time and location, and began instructing farmers to restore production from November 29 and complete it by December 5 at the latest.

The sowing schedule for the 2025-2026 winter-spring rice crop has been issued by the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Khanh Hoa.

Specifically, in the South Khanh Hoa area, the sowing time will start from December 15 to January 10, 2026, with the expected harvest time before April 20, 2026. Meanwhile, in the Khanh Hoa area in general, the sowing time is from December 15 to December 30, 2025, and the harvest time before April 8, 2026.

Khanh Hoa farmers are preparing the land for the 2025-2026 winter-spring crop. Photo: KS.

A representative of the Khanh Hoa Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection also said that through the process of understanding, the local seed supply from companies specializing in the production and supply of quality seeds is still guaranteed for the winter-spring crop production of 2025-2026, with a total expected area of ​​over 36,000 hectares.

However, to ensure the most appropriate, effective and timely use of seed sources for people, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Khanh Hoa province has advised the Provincial People's Committee to propose the central government to support funding for production restoration. This support will be distributed publicly and transparently directly to people so that they can proactively purchase quality seeds, suitable for field conditions and the upcoming crop structure.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/lua-giong-hu-hong-nong-dan-khanh-hoa-can-ho-tro-d787483.html