The harvest season is bustling!

Around noon in early April, the Vinh Hanh rice fields were still bustling with the sounds of people and the incessant whirring of combine harvesters… Before my eyes, the vast rice fields in harvest season looked like a beautiful rural painting. There, I smelled the fragrant scent of new rice, of straw, and the “smell” of my homeland, with the hustle and bustle of honest, hardworking laborers…

A painting of the countryside

The Vinh Hanh rice field, located in Phu Lac commune, Tuy Phong district, a predominantly ethnic minority area mainly inhabited by the Cham people, appeared before me as a small field, only about 70 hectares, surrounded by green trees and the commune's residential area. This rice field is irrigated by water from the Song Long Song reservoir. From afar, under the clear, sunny sky, the rice paddies were a vibrant golden expanse, their fragrant scent carrying the essence of nature. Three or four combine harvesters and a group of workers were busily at work. As soon as the harvesters finished a section, the harvested rice was bagged and gathered, waiting for trucks to come and pick it up. The sun was scorching, so I had equipped myself with a warm outfit and a bucket hat as a protective charm. I walked across the rows of freshly spread green straw, basking in the sun and listening to the rustling sound.

Harvesting machines in the fields of Vinh Hanh.

The scent of rice, the intoxicating aroma of straw, so familiar to me from my childhood, made me instinctively pull down my mask to take a deep breath. In the rice fields where the harvesting machines had passed, a group of women from the village carried basins to glean the rice. Hovering in the air, flocks of birds landed, fluttering just above head height, swooping down onto the abundant fields. The sounds of laughter and chatter from the laborers continued… On that field, hundreds of local cows grazed peacefully, having enjoyed a hearty meal of the countless fragrant fresh straws spread across the land.

The cattle are grazing in the fields.

Standing on the edge of the rice field, Mr. Dang Quoc Dai from Vinh Hanh village, the owner of the rice paddies currently harvesting, was sweating profusely. He was directing a group of people to load the freshly bagged rice onto trucks for transport. Mr. Dai shared that his family cultivated 1.1 hectares of rice, and this was the final harvest of the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop, with an average yield of over 8 quintals per sao (approximately 1000 square meters). However, some rice fields in Vinh Hanh suffered from a rice stem borer infestation, resulting in lower yields compared to previous years.

Transporting rice after harvest.

Standing and admiring the fields and chatting briefly, we saw that each golden rice paddies had been quickly harvested, the rice neatly baled into sacks. Seeing me staring at the combine harvester, Mr. Dai shared: “Farmers no longer have to work so hard harvesting by hand and carrying rice like before. During harvest season, people hire combine harvesters for 220,000 VND per sao (a unit of land measurement). The laborers assisting with the machines are paid 12,000 VND per sao. Each combine harvester can harvest 1-4 hectares per day.” Unlike many years ago when rice farming was practiced in my hometown, now, thanks to mechanization, harvesting and threshing each sao only takes about 10 minutes, after which the farmers simply transport the rice home…

Transporting rice from the field to the house.

Expectations for the rice brand.

After more than three months of land preparation, planting, and tending, the harvest season is when they reap the rewards of their hard work. However, farming is inherently precarious due to unstable agricultural product prices. The same applies to rice! While at the end of last year, rice prices nationwide, and in Binh Thuan in particular, rose to 9,500-10,000 VND/kg, bringing joy to farmers with considerable profits, at this time, rice prices have stagnated, currently ranging from 7,200-8,500 VND/kg (dry rice). After deducting costs, farmers earn a profit of over 20 million VND/ha. Even straw, which sold for over 25,000 VND per bale a few years ago, now only fetches around 18,000 VND/bale, resulting in less profit.

Drying the straw after harvesting the rice.

Mr. Dai explained to me that, towards the end of the harvest season, due to the high rice yield, prices fluctuated and decreased compared to the beginning of the season. Regarding straw, which was previously in high demand due to people buying it for mulching dragon fruit plants, the demand has now decreased, leading to lower prices. Therefore, after this harvest, Mr. Dai's family and other households in the area are spreading the straw out to dry in the fields. After one day, they hire a machine to roll it into bundles and bring it home for storage to use in livestock farming…

The rice fields in Tuy Phong are turning golden yellow.

Indeed, compared to the province's major rice-growing areas such as Bac Binh, Ham Thuan Bac, Tanh Linh, and Duc Linh, the area where I am standing is not a large rice-growing locality. Tuy Phong currently only has over 2,200 hectares of land for rice production, with three harvests per year. From a dry and harsh land, in recent years, thanks to the reliable irrigation water supply, the average rice yield of the district has still reached over 7.2 tons/ha. Many farmers, thanks to the application of advanced techniques in cultivation and good care, have consistently achieved high yields, exceeding 9 tons/ha. According to Mr. Nhu Quoc Thich – Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Tuy Phong district, this winter-spring crop, farmers mainly planted varieties such as N25, Dai Thom 8, ML 48, ML 217, and ML 57, with ML 48 accounting for up to 70% of the total area. However, the rice crop in Long Dien 1 was affected by stem borers during the flowering stage, impacting yield. The district's plan is that, immediately after the winter-spring crop ends, the local authorities will hold a meeting to agree on limiting the planting area. Production will resume depending on the amount of water flowing into the reservoir when rainfall continues, but the planting time must adhere to the provincial planting schedule.

Downstream of Song Long Song Lake.

With the sun directly overhead, marking the peak of the hot day, the atmosphere of labor in the Vinh Hanh fields showed no signs of slowing down. Not far away, in the fields that had been harvested earlier, farmers had begun plowing and drying the soil in preparation for the summer-autumn crop when irrigation water becomes available and according to the local plan.

"Song Long Song" rice is a 3-star OCOP product of Tuy Phong district.

Bidding farewell to the villagers in the Vinh Hanh fields, I felt the peaceful and prosperous beauty of the countryside and gained a clearer understanding of the diverse aspects of life. In Phu Lac, a newly established rural commune, the people are diligently working and producing every day. In that sun-drenched land, I also harbored greater hopes for a high-quality rice production area, for the "Song Long Song Rice" brand, which has been certified as a 3-star OCOP product of the district since 2020.

"Oh, whoever holds a bowl of rice, each fragrant grain holds a thousand bitter sorrows"—a folk song I heard in my childhood, praising the diligence, hard work, and creative spirit of farmers, suddenly came to mind. Memories of the harvest season once again stirred and buzzed within me...

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/mua-gat-xon-xao-118020.html