Agriculture - Rural areas

Kinh Mon farmers overcome difficulties, focus on winter crop preparation

AUTUMN SPRING - LE HUONG • October 14, 2024 16:30

Due to the impact of storm No. 3 and floods, these days, farmers in Kinh Mon town (Hai Duong) are still overcoming difficulties and focusing on preparing the land for the winter crop.

Kinh Mon farmers take advantage of the dry weather to prepare the land to grow onions and garlic.

In the fields of Hiep Hoa commune, there is the bustling sound of plows and the chatter of farmers. Mr. Bui Van Bac in Chau Bo hamlet, Hiep Hoa commune said that every year the soil is loose and easy to work. After renting a plow, he only needed 2 working days to finish making ridges for 1 sao. "This year the soil is crumbly, heavy, and difficult to work. It took my family 4 working days to finish making ridges for 1 sao," Mr. Bac said. If the weather is favorable, farmers here will complete the soil preparation in a few days.

People gather machinery to prepare land for winter crop production

For more than 5 years providing land preparation services, on average each winter crop, Mr. Pham Van Tam in Pham Thai ward receives about 18 hectares of land to grow onions and garlic for local people. “In previous winter crops, as soon as the rice was harvested, people hired me to prepare the land. During peak times, the rice harvester went first and the land preparation machine followed. However, this year, most of the land after harvesting had to be left to dry before the machine could be used. Some areas of land were still soft, so we had to plow through it once, wait for the soil to loosen, then come back to chop it up and make ridges,” said Mr. Tam.

The rice fields in Hiep Thuong area, Hiep Son ward are low-lying areas of the town. During the storms in early September, water flooded up to 2/3 of the rice plants. There is still a lot of water in the soil. "If the weather continues to be sunny and dry like these days, the machines will be able to till the soil in about 1-2 days," said Ms. To Thi Hoi, resident of Hiep Thuong area, Hiep Son ward.

Because the soil is not dry yet, the land preparation process takes more work than in previous years.

Winter crop is always the most anticipated crop of the year for Kinh Mon farmers because of its high economic value, especially onions and garlic. Despite the difficulties, these days, people here still take advantage of favorable weather, mobilizing maximum means, machinery and manpower to prepare the land.

This year, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu's family in Quang Tri residential area, Pham Thai ward, planted 2 hectares of onions and 1 hectare of garlic. Right after harvesting the early-season rice, the family proactively dug small ditches around the field to dry the soil quickly. By mobilizing machinery and manpower, his family has basically prepared the land and started planting onion and garlic seedlings.

Farmers collect straw and dry the fields to make the soil dry and easier to work.

As for plowman Pham Van Tam, he is optimistic: "If I can't work during the day, I will work all night in the next few days to serve the people."

Another advantage for onion and garlic growers in Kinh Mon is that at this time, the cost of labor, machinery, and fertilizers has not increased. Onion and garlic seeds are left over from the previous crop, so farmers can proactively plant them right after finishing the land preparation.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ha, Head of the Economic Department of Kinh Mon town, although this year was affected by storms and floods, the area of winter crops in the locality did not decrease. The town plans to plant 4,430 hectares of winter crops, an increase of more than 20 hectares compared to 2023.

The winter crop area is large because farmers proactively overcome difficulties and focus resources on winter crops. Some banana, cassava and other crops in the land outside the dike that died due to storms and floods were renovated by people and used to grow winter crops.

People destroy cassava roots that died after the storm, plant onions and garlic in the area outside Lac Long commune.

Mr. Le Van Dien, Vice Chairman of Kinh Mon Town People's Committee, said that the town will implement measures to support people to overcome difficulties and strive to complete the winter crop planting area within the best crop schedule. The town People's Committee requested departments, offices, and People's Committees of communes and wards to promptly complete the dossier to support farmers affected by storms and floods. Special attention should be paid to dredging canals and clearing water flows to ensure sufficient water supply for winter crops and timely drainage when flooding occurs. Farmers need to take advantage of favorable weather, clean the fields, and promptly treat and prepare the soil to be on time for the crop...

Thuong Quan people grow winter crops instead of bananas

On October 13, Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thuong Quan Commune, said that all 50.5 hectares of banana plantations in the locality that were killed by storm No. 3 were being used by people to cultivate the land and plant winter crops. Of these, 70% of the area was used by people to grow onions and garlic, while the rest was used to grow squash and other crops.

The difficulty in planting winter crops on dead banana fields is to collect banana plants, dig up the roots and level the land. The cost of hiring labor and machinery for land preparation is high, from 1.4 to 1.5 million VND/sao. It is expected that in about 10 days, people will finish planting onions and garlic, then move on to growing squash, corn, potatoes, etc.

Thuong Quan Commune has nearly 60 hectares of bananas for Tet. Every year, Thuong Quan's banana output reaches about 100,000 bunches. With the garden price of 350,000 - 650,000 VND/bunch, banana trees bring in over 35 billion VND/year for the people. The family with the highest income is 600 - 700 million VND/year, many families earn 300 - 400 million VND/year from banana growing.

AUTUMN SPRING - LE HUONG