Many spring rice areas have failed crops.

The rice flower still has many grains but the grains are flat and do not produce milk. Photo: Phu Huong.

Many fields of young rice are harvested.

Planting 4 sao of rice, but Mr. Nguyen Van Khuong in Tan Ninh hamlet, Dien Nguyen commune (Dien Chau) could only harvest 1 sao of pure rice that ripened after April 15. The remaining 3 sao of rice in Ho Di commune, planted with Ha Xuyen rice variety, was completely lost. "The rice ripened from April 10, but during the earing period, it was cold, the rice plants ripened slowly, not as fast and free as usual, the rice flowers still had their hairs exposed but could not bend, the flowers had many grains but when squeezed, they were empty, not milky, and had kernels," Mr. Khuong was frustrated.

Rice still blooms but productivity has dropped dramatically. Photo: Phu Huong

Dien Nguyen commune has more than 391 hectares of rice. If last year's spring crop was very good, this year, although there are no complete statistics, in the commune, many rice areas have suffered from the phenomenon of flower head degeneration, unable to bloom, people have even cut more than 1 hectare of rice and lost it all to feed cattle and focus on fertilizing and caring for the rice to grow, in about 20 days there will be young flowers and 1.5 months to harvest. The rest of the people still leave the rice in the fields, hoping for changes while sowing rice seedlings to produce summer-autumn rice.

For many years now, the spring rice crop has suffered such a severe crop failure. Photo: Phu Huong

According to Mr. Dao Xuan Tu, Director of the Commune Agricultural Service Cooperative: Due to many deep-watered fields, Dien Nguyen often plants before the district's crop schedule. This year, some varieties suffered severe crop failures, even completely losing their yield, most notably the Ha Xuyen variety; some areas encountered cold when they were forming panicles, and when peeled off, they were already degenerated from the panicle stage.

In addition to total loss, some fields planted with ADI and HDT varieties suffered less damage, still had firm grains and salvaged yields of 1.2-2 quintals/sao. In general, these were areas that started flowering from April 10; while rice fields that started flowering from April 20 onwards had very long and loose panicles, firm grains, and only a few areas had degenerated panicles.

This year, Ms. Tran Thi Huong's family in Dong Yen hamlet, Dong Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) planted 12 sao of Ha Xuyen, VT404, AJ73 rice and lost all productivity. This situation happened to the spring rice of many households in the commune and currently some households have cut young rice to feed cattle and prepare to sow summer-autumn rice seedlings, but the extent is different. Planting 3 sao of Thai Xuyen rice, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, also in Dong Yen hamlet, said: "The rice was planted on January 10, but due to the long cold, it only ripened on April 15. During the earing stage, there was rain and cold. If in previous years it reached 4 quintals/sao, this crop might yield about 1.5-2 quintals. The later-ripening fields are much better."

This spring crop, Yen Thanh district planted more than 12,000 hectares of rice. The phenomenon of rice with degenerated panicles, not blooming and not bowing is concentrated in Ma Thanh and Tan Thanh communes, in the nooks and crannies where people take advantage of the water to plant; in addition, it is scattered in some other communes, but all fall in areas that are planted early and bloom early.

Early planting despite recommendations

According to Mr. Le Van Hong, head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Yen Thanh district, this year, due to the prolonged gloomy and cold weather and few sunny days, the growth period of rice plants has been extended. Some rice areas encountered cold rain and no sun, so the rice flowers did not bloom, the rice flowers only bloomed about 5-7 centimeters while normally the rice should bloom 20-30 centimeters; the flowering period also lasted from 10-15 days while normally the rice flowers only bloom in 5-7 days; many areas had degenerated flower heads and empty grains. "The district has built a crop calendar to start concentrated planting after January 20, flood-affected areas are advised to plant 7-10 days in advance; however, people still plant 10-15 days ahead of schedule.

Many spring rice fields have been cut down. Photo: Phu Huong

Recently, in some localities such as Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Anh Son, Tan Ky... there has been a situation where spring rice plants do not bloom, do not bend the panicle and the panicle heads degenerate, on most rice varieties, however the level and rate of damage in each variety is different. According to initial assessment, most of these are areas planted before the crop calendar set by the Department of Agriculture and localities, some areas were even planted 15-20 days early; during the panicle differentiation stage, unfavorable weather conditions led to many areas experiencing the above phenomena, leading to severe yield reduction and even crop failure.

Yen Thanh farmers harvest young rice to feed cattle. Photo: Phu Huong

This spring crop, Nghe An's sowing schedule starts from January 2-15 and transplanting after the seedlings are 21 days old, meaning that transplanting will start from January 22; for varieties with a growth period of less than 125 days, it is recommended not to sow seedlings before January 10; if sowing directly, sow 5-7 days later than the sowing schedule; areas in the summer-autumn flood season can sow 5-7 days earlier than the crop schedule.

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The crop calendar is built by the Department of Agriculture based on calculations of all related factors; to ensure that rice is concentrated in flowering from April 15 to April 30, which is a time when the weather is usually very favorable, avoiding the late-season cold rains and rains for the rice to form panicles. Sowing early despite the recommendations of the industry experts, if lucky, the rice still maintains its yield, but the risk of crop failure due to weather is very high.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc, Head of the Provincial Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection.

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Source: https://baonghean.vn/nhieu-dien-tich-lua-xuan-mat-mua-10297243.html