Vegetable production in the rainy season

Faced with complex weather conditions, many cooperatives and farmers in the province have proactively changed crop structures, used short-term vegetables and used appropriate soil preparation and water regulation techniques to minimize the risk of damage caused by floods.

Agricultural Technical Center staff instruct farmers in Chieng Mai commune to make trellis for cucumbers.

Son La Agricultural Cooperative, Chieng Mai commune has 7 members and is associated with nearly 15 production households, building a specialized safe vegetable growing area according to VietGAP process, with a scale of over 20 hectares, supplying over 1,000 tons of vegetables, tubers and fruits each year to the clean vegetable store system, supermarkets in and outside the province.

Mr. Hoang Van Truong, Deputy Director of the Cooperative, said: In recent days, the weather has been rainy, the Cooperative has instructed members to proactively level the beds to be airy, high, and drained so that vegetables are not flooded; choose vegetables with short growing time, early harvest, such as: Bok choy, spinach, lettuce... to plant. Along with that, applying the technique of growing seedlings in trays or bags, both saves time and ensures a high survival rate, and plants take root quickly.

During the rainy season, many types of pests often arise, such as: Anthracnose, leaf-eating worms, stem borers, etc. Therefore, the Cooperative has guided members to apply integrated pest management processes, focusing on field sanitation, planting at the right density, increasing the use of biological products to prevent diseases and improve plant resistance. In addition, increasing the use of decomposed organic fertilizers and microbial fertilizers also helps to improve soil looseness, limit nutrient leaching and help vegetable plants recover quickly after heavy rains.

Farmers in Chieng Mai commune make raised beds before planting vegetables.

As a member of the Son La Agricultural Cooperative, Ms. Lo Thi Tam's family has more than 4,000 ^m2 of land growing sweet cabbage, eggplant, bitter melon, and cucumber. Ms. Tam shared: During the rainy season, growing green vegetables is more difficult. After each crop, the family cleans the fields, collects plant residues, weeds, and treats them with lime powder to destroy pathogens remaining in the soil. The family has divided the vegetable fields into small beds, raised them to facilitate drainage; and covered the beds with straw after planting to avoid being washed away by rain. As for cucumbers and bitter melons, a sturdy trellis must be built so that the plants can grow and photosynthesize better. This crop, the family expects to harvest nearly 10 tons of vegetables and fruits.

Farmers in Yen Son commune use plastic film to cover the beds, limit weeds, and prevent waterlogging of crops.

In Yen Son commune, taking advantage of fertile land, farmers focus on growing green vegetables in the direction of commodities, increasing income with nearly 100 hectares, including sweet vegetables, cabbage, lettuce, beans, etc. These are vegetables with high demand in the market, short growing time.

Mr. Tran Van Tinh's family in Chieng Hung village, Yen Son commune grows 5,000 ^m2 of various vegetables. For many weeks now, heavy rains have been occurring in the area, not only causing flooding but also compacting the soil, leading to root suffocation, poor vegetable growth, and the emergence of harmful pests, especially flea beetles and leaf-eating worms.

Mr. Tinh shared: To minimize the damage caused by rain, the family has chosen to plant Malabar spinach, eggplant, green beans... instead; regularly weed, remove the habitat of harmful organisms; use agricultural film to limit the impact of heavy rain causing soil erosion; prepare water pumps to prevent heavy rain from flooding the vegetable fields. Currently, the price of Malabar spinach, eggplant, green beans is 8,000-12,000 VND/kg, after deducting costs, the family earns a profit of about 18 million VND/crop.

According to statistics, during the recent flood, the whole province had over 300 hectares of vegetables flooded. Currently, the Department of Agriculture and Environment and localities are directing functional departments and communes to support farmers to restore production and proactively take measures to protect crops during the rainy season.

Officers of the Agricultural Technical Center distributed leaflets with technical instructions on restoring production after floods to farmers in Chieng La commune.

The weather forecast for the coming time is still complicated. Therefore, farmers need to proactively implement measures to prevent and combat flooding, protect vegetables; use agricultural film to control soil moisture, limit weeds; for leafy vegetables, use net houses or roofs to minimize the impact of rain, causing damage to leaves.

Mr. Vuong Quoc Hoa, Deputy Director of the Agricultural Technical Center, informed: The rainy season is prone to many types of harmful pests and diseases. Farmers need to proactively visit fields and gardens regularly to promptly detect and take measures to handle them, not allowing the disease to spread widely; prioritize the application of technical measures to manage pests and diseases in a safe and biological manner. When using pesticides, it is necessary to strictly follow the quarantine period before harvesting to ensure safety for consumers. Prepare seed sources, actively prepare the land to plant additional damaged crop areas, ensuring supply for the market.

Proactively changing farming methods and applying appropriate technical solutions have helped farmers adapt effectively to the adverse conditions of the rainy season; ensuring the maintenance of planting areas, contributing to stabilizing supply sources, limiting scarcity and fluctuations in vegetable prices during prolonged rains and floods.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/kinh-te/san-xuat-rau-mau-trong-mua-mua-lu-7aVjPcQNg.html