Determined to win the summer-autumn crop to offset the prior loss

Irregular rainfall and floods cause loss

On April 22, MARD collaborated with Binh Dinh Provincial People’s Committee to host Preliminary conference on the 2022 winter-spring (WS) crop, executing the production plan for the 2022 summer-autumn (SA) crop. The conference was chaired by Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Tung, deputy director of the Department of Crop Production, before entering the 2021-2022 WS production crop, MARD had directed competent parties and localities to arrange the crop to suit each subregion; proposing detailed measures before and during the seeding; as well as adjusting plan and schedule of rice seed sowing for each region, persisting on producing a bumper crop.

The Department of Crop Production cooperated with areas to execute strategy and direction. However, regardless of how well the preparation was, the unusually heavy rains in late March and early April inundated mature rice fields in numerous provinces in the South Central area, causing serious loss of rice harvest.

This WS harvest in the South Central and Central Highlands areas produced 327,000 hectares of rice, an increase of 4,650 hectares, the yield was assessed at 63.19 quintals/ha, down 4.44 quintals/ha, the production declined by 144,000 tons compared to the inter-yearly crop.

“Thanks to favorable weather at the beginning of the 2021-2022 WS crop, rice plant flourished and developed well, localities focused on the timely direction to prevent pests. However, at the crop-end stage, when the rice plant reached the burst and ripe, the rains arrived causing floods and collapse, combined by the cold and gloomy weather, the rice production and yield was in serious impacts”, Mr, Le Thanh Tung, deputy director of Department of Crop Production.

Determined to win the SA crop

According to the plan, the 2022 SA crop in the South Central and Central Highlands areas will plant more than 181,000 hectares of rice, generating average production of 61.82 quintals per ha, up 0.46 quintals per ha; the output is predicted to grow by 14,000 tons compared to the inter-yearly crop. In the crop year of 2022, the South Central and Central Highlands areas would produce more than 267,000 hectares of rice, down 4,000 ha year on year; the average output is anticipated to reach 52.17 quintals per ha, up 0.49 quintals per ha year on year.

The Department of Crop Production recommended that provinces assess the crop structure and schedule the rice production season based on the Central Hydrometeorological Agency's forecast and the situation of water sources in reservoirs in the localities.

According to the competent department, the rain season in the Central Highlands is likely to arrive earlier this year than in previous years, and as a result, each region must prepare accordingly to take advantage of concentrated and rapid seed sowing while the soil is sufficiently moist to avoid crop-end drought.

Establishing a safe water irrigation supply by the timetable for focused output. For drought-prone areas with insufficient irrigation water for the plants at the end of the crop, it is critical to change the production structure from three crops per year to two crops per year or to rearrange the production season to avoid the drought and implement cultivation techniques that mitigate drought damage.

Local governments must support the transformation of regions subject to water scarcity towards the end of the crop to short-day plants to increase production efficiency and conserve irrigation water.

"For the provinces extending from Da Nang to Binh Dinh, the region produces three rice harvests each year, planting seeds from March 25 to April 5; for the provinces extending from Da Nang to Binh Dinh, the region produces two rice crops per year, sowing seeds from May 20 to May 30." Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces were planted between May 10 and June 10; Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces were sowed between April 25 and May 20.

Sowing seeds from June 1 to June 20 in the provinces of the Central Highlands and East Truong Son region; from May 15 to June 10 in the Western Truong Son region, sowing is concentrated, so you can take advantage of the rainy season by arriving early to sow before May 15 and stopping before May 30 to avoid drought at the end of the season.

In Lam Dong, the summer-autumn crop is seeded between April 5 and 15. Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultivation, explained that the first-season rice production takes advantage of planting when sufficient water comes and concludes before July 10.

"Lam Dong province sows seeds from 5 to 15 April. For seasonal single-crop rice, it is critical to take advantage of plentiful water and finish the harvest by July 10", Mr. Le Thanh Tung said.

Mr. Tran Van Phuc, Director of the Binh Dinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated that Binh Dinh would produce 41,805 hectares of rice in the next SA season, with 5,810 hectares now sowed. Binh Dinh is resolved to produce all rice and plant crops in this year's SA crop and to organize proper production to decide to win to balance the damage caused by rain and floods during the WS harvest.

"If it is projected that rain will fall in May, we will create a seasonal plan that avoids rain and damage.  We planned to enhance rice production in this SA season to make up for the loss of the previous winter-spring crop," Mr. Phuc explained.

According to Dr. Ho Huy Cuong, Director of the South Central Coast Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, several regions in the South Central region are scheduled to plant from May 10 for the summer-autumn crop of 2022. These places are in danger of being affected by rain.

According to the Central Hydrometeorological Station's estimate, rainfall would increase by 30-60 percent over that period, and the sowing areas will be hit by small floods beginning May 10.

"While the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and local governments took proactive measures to avoid disadvantages in the 2021-2022 winter-spring crop, unusually heavy rain at the end of the crop pushed farmers into a position of fall, resulting in a severe loss of productivity, which we acknowledged and shared with the local areas. Before beginning production of this year's summer-autumn crop, the Department of Crop Production must cooperate swiftly with local governments to identify and resolve the rice seed scarcity. Local governments must make every effort to win the summer-autumn crop to cover the loss of the previous winter-spring crop," Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh stated.