Harvesting with machines during the season.

Dien Bien Phu - In the last days of May, taking advantage of the sunny weather after several erratic thunderstorms, the atmosphere of harvesting the winter-spring rice crop was bustling and urgent across the fields of the Muong Thanh basin. From early morning, the sound of combine harvesters blended with the cheerful laughter of farmers, creating a lively scene of labor in the midst of the harvest season.

In the fields of Muong Thanh, combine harvesters are operating at full capacity.

According to preliminary assessments by specialized agencies, this year's winter-spring rice crop is expected to yield over 63 quintals/hectare. Golden rice fields stretch as far as the eye can see during harvest season. Along the internal field roads, small trucks line up to transport the harvested rice, alongside combine harvesters operating continuously from early morning until late at night – a familiar rhythm of the harvest season for farmers in the basin area.

While in the past, each harvest was the most arduous time for farmers, the promotion of mechanization in agricultural production, especially the introduction of combine harvesters, has helped free up labor, shorten harvesting time, and reduce labor costs. Fields can now be harvested in just a few hours, and the rice is neatly bagged right in the field, minimizing post-harvest losses.

In the fields near Hong Thanh 7 village, Thanh Nua commune, wiping the sweat from his forehead after a round of harvesting, Mr. Lo Van Minh, a combine harvester owner, said: “Previously, only households with large fields hired combine harvesters, but now even small plots are being harvested by farmers. Manual harvesting is now difficult to find workers for, and the labor costs are high. Combine harvesters are fast; a field can be harvested in just a few tens of minutes.”  

The combine harvesters may operate until 11 or 12 midnight to meet production deadlines.

According to Mr. Minh, the area of ​​rice flattened by heavy rain and strong winds makes operating the machines more difficult and the harvesting time longer compared to standing rice, but the machine owners still maintain the same price to support the farmers. "This season, everyone wants to take advantage of harvesting quickly before the rain comes down, so we try to run at full capacity, and many days we work until late at night before resting," Mr. Minh shared.

Ms. Ca Thi Kim's family in Thanh Nua commune cultivates nearly 1,300 square meters of Seng Cu rice. In previous years, for each harvest, she had to hire 3-4 additional laborers to harvest by hand continuously for 2 days, at a rate of about 300,000 VND per person per day. But this year, she decided to hire a harvesting machine at a cost of less than 700,000 VND.

“The harvesting machine is very fast; it finishes the whole field in no time. The rice is bagged cleanly and immediately transferred to the bank to dry, saving a lot of effort. My family only needs a few extra people to help spread the rice. With this sunny weather, it only takes about two days to dry,” said Ms. Kim excitedly.  

The rice was neatly packed into sacks.

For over a week now, in the Tien Phong rice field area of ​​Muong Thanh ward, the two combine harvesters owned by the Vuong Hong Tue brothers have been operating continuously. This area is cultivated by residents of the villages of Co Cang, Kha, Pom Loi, and some neighboring residential areas. Although the fields are divided into small plots, requiring multiple trips to move the harvesters, the relatively well-developed internal road system has made machine operation much easier than before.

Mr. Vuong Hong Tue said that he has invested in a combine harvester for more than three years now. Since the beginning of the season, he has hardly had a day off. “This year, fuel prices and operating costs have increased, so the harvesting price has also gone up by about 500,000 VND per 1,000 square meters. Even so, people still prefer to rent machines because it's still more economical than hiring laborers to harvest by hand. The weather has been unpredictable lately, with some days raining all day, so whenever it stops, we take advantage of the opportunity to work, even at lunchtime,” Mr. Tue said.

Farmers take advantage of the sun to dry their rice.

The harvest season also creates seasonal jobs for many local laborers. A combine harvester requires at least two workers to assist with bagging, transporting the rice, and operating the machine.

Mr. Ly A Ky, from Pu Nhi commune, previously worked in construction in Hanoi but has now returned to his hometown to work as an assistant with a combine harvester during the harvest season. "Each day's work earns about 400,000 VND. On peak days, we work until 11 or 12 midnight to keep up with the schedule for the villagers," Mr. Ky said.

In the fields of Kha village, Muong Thanh ward, Ms. Luong Thi Xien's family is busy harvesting over 1,000 square meters of rice. One plot is planted with the Gia Loc rice variety, while the other is a new glutinous rice variety known for its small grains and sticky rice. The entire area is harvested by machine, with labor costs totaling nearly 600,000 VND.

“The price of rice this year is around 9,000 - 9,500 VND/kg. After harvesting, my family has to hurry and prepare the land so that we can plant the new crop in about 10 days,” Ms. Xiên shared.

A break during the harvest season.

The harvest season atmosphere in the fields of the Muong Thanh basin clearly shows the changes in local agricultural production. While harvesting used to be mainly done by hand, many stages of production have now been mechanized.

The clean, smooth field roads facilitate the movement of machinery; each sack of rice is neatly packed and stacked along the edge of the field in a short time.

Mechanization not only reduces labor but also improves production efficiency, minimizes post-harvest losses, and ensures timely planting. In unpredictable weather conditions, quick and efficient harvesting by machine helps farmers mitigate risks from storms and allows them to proactively prepare for the next planting season.

Amidst the relentless rotation of harvesting machines in the fields of Muong Thanh today is the image of an agricultural sector gradually transforming towards modernization. Mechanization is no longer the exclusive choice of a few households but has become an inevitable trend, contributing to increased production efficiency.

Source: https://baodienbienphu.vn/tin-bai/kinh-te/nghe-gat-may-vao-vu