Excited to go to the fields to harvest rice at night.

A moment of rest and watering for the combine harvester crew in Huong Phong.

"No matter how hard it is, as long as we have enough to eat."

In Thanh Phuoc rice paddies, Huong Phong commune ( Hue City), the villages are unusually bustling these nights, as it's harvest season. The sound of harvesting machines and the lights shining from the fields illuminate the area along the lower reaches of the Perfume River. Nighttime rice harvesting has become a familiar rhythm of life for the people here. The unique timing and the Rio 2 rice variety allow for a quick and efficient harvest of the winter-spring crop, reducing pressure on the summer-autumn crop.

After eating breakfast early, carrying water and his family's "helpers," Mr. Chau Quyen hopped on his motorbike and headed to the fields to wait for the combine harvesters to start harvesting the rice. That evening, he estimated he needed to cut 3 out of his 12 acres of rice to dry in the sun. "Working at night is cool and convenient, and it doesn't overlap with other people's harvesting schedules. This year the rice grains are firm, with a yield of about 3.5 quintals per acre. Seeing the high selling price, everyone is overjoyed," Mr. Quyen shared.

Equally busy and hardworking is the harvesting team. Some shine lights to guide the rice stalks so the harvesters can see the path, others operate the machines, and still others handle maintenance. Team leader Phan Huu Nghiep works while simultaneously checking his phone to communicate, coordinate the harvesting machines, and schedule work for other farmers. The cooperative's two harvesting machines, with a crew of six, operate continuously. Each person carries several bottles of cool water, as staying hydrated at this time is crucial for their alertness. "Taking advantage of the favorable weather, we're working extra shifts to meet the rice harvesting deadline for the farmers. Sometimes we don't finish until 10 or midnight. Each day, the team harvests about 10 acres, but this year the rice ripens unevenly, so the transportation takes more than usual," Nghiep said.

This year, HXT Thanh Phuoc planted 84.4 hectares of rice, and has already harvested more than half of the area. In the coming days, farmers will harvest the JO2 rice variety and other late-ripening rice crops to ensure yield and avoid unexpected extreme weather conditions.

Mrs. Chớ prepared sacks to hand over the rice to the combine harvester on the evening of May 1st.

Meanwhile, on the fields of Dong Phu Cooperative, Quang An, Quang Dien on the evening of May 1st, long rows of sacks of harvested rice from dozens of households were piled up along the roadside. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Cho, 64 years old, and her son-in-law were gathering the rice to take home. This year, she planted 2.4 sao (approximately 2,400 square meters) of 4B rice variety, yielding 3.5 quintals per sao (50 kg per sao higher than last year). With the price of 4B rice at around 9,500 VND per kilogram, she earned about 1 million VND per sao. “The harvesting cost per sao is 105,000 VND, after deducting fertilizer, the high price of rice means farmers are making a profit, which is great. I’ve been working from afternoon until night without eating a single grain of rice. My stomach is so full of joy that I’ve forgotten about hunger. No matter how hard it is, as long as I’m well-fed,” she said with a joyful smile.

Rice planting, waiting for sunshine.

At 8 PM, on the Thuy Duong - Thuan An road, the family of Mr. Hoang Ngoc, 58 years old, from Phu My (Phu Vang district), mobilized nearly a dozen people to help harvest and load rice from the fields. Having spent more than half his life farming, this is the time for him to admire the fruits of his labor after days of hard work under the sun and rain. This year, the weather has been harsh, but the farmers have applied all their experience to tending the rice crop. Understanding the hardship of working in the fields, his children always come to the fields to help their father at this time of year. Excited by the good harvest and good prices, everyone is overjoyed. The late-night meal during the harvest season is also more "luxurious" with meat and bottled beer.

Mr. Ngoc's family cultivates 4 acres of rice, including 1 acre of JO2 variety, 1.5 acres of Khang Dan variety, and the rest planted with Ha Phat variety. While waiting for his son to load the rice onto the truck, Mr. Ngoc calculated that although rice prices are high, the yield in this area is not as good as last year. Last year, one acre yielded 3.5 quintals, while this year it's about 2.8-3 quintals. However, the selling price is higher, so the farmers are all happy. Yesterday, he sold a small amount of Khang Dan rice right after harvesting, earning around 27-28 million VND. Estimating that rice prices will continue to rise, he decided to bring the remaining rice home and not sell it yet.

After unloading his rice cart by the roadside and sitting down to have a drink with Mr. Ngoc, 38-year-old Phan Thanh, a fellow villager, was equally happy because this year's harvest was bountiful. His father used to be the head of the cooperative, and his family has been involved with farming since childhood. He and his wife cultivate two acres of land inherited from his father, planting the JO 2 and Khang Dan rice varieties. After researching the market, he has only sold a small amount of Khang Dan rice, holding onto the rest to wait for higher prices. He said that everyone here thinks the same way, so most people are only selling tentatively to gauge the market.

The joy of getting a good price and a good harvest.

Engrossed in stories about farming, Mr. Ngoc recounted how he had to sleep by the rice paddies to guard his Rio 2 rice crop because it had only been drying for a day and a night, and he still needed to keep the rice to spread out and dry early the next morning. Under the scorching sun, he took shelter under the shade of a horse chestnut tree on the sidewalk, moving across the road at dusk to quickly turn the rice over to dry it properly. His face was tanned dark from the intense sun these days, but he said that this job meant working under the sun, so there was no way to avoid it. On days when the temperature was high, he would go inside to rest for a while, but at night, it was "rice on one side, people on the other." The problem of motorbike theft was also a headache for the locals, so guarding the rice with sweat and tears was inevitable. That's why, along this road towards Thuan An beach, it's not difficult to see several farming families sitting by the roadside eating dinner and guarding their rice.

This year's winter-spring crop saw over 28,000 hectares planted throughout the province. Currently, rice prices on the market vary depending on quality: Khang Dan at 8,700-8,900 VND/kg, Ha Phat at 8,700-8,900 VND/kg, JO2 at 9,700-10,000 VND/kg, Nang Huong at 9,200-9,500 VND/kg, etc. In some areas, rice wholesalers go out to buy rice from early morning or take advantage of the evening to approach concentrated rice drying areas, weigh the rice, and load it onto trucks for transport. The owner of An Hung rice warehouse in Huong Phong said that his family has been buying rice in the area and in Quang Thanh commune (Quang Dien district), and currently has about 20-30 tons of Khang Dan rice. This year, high rice prices combined with a good harvest have made both sellers and buyers enthusiastic and happy.