These days, farmers in the Western provinces such as Hau Giang, Vinh Long, Can Tho... are harvesting the 2024 autumn-winter rice crop. Due to the impact of thunderstorms and high tides on the full moon day of September, many areas of rice fell, making harvesting difficult.
Looking for workers to cut his hands for many days, but Mr. Nguyen Van Ut (Vi Thuy district, Hau Giang province) still had difficulty finding someone to hire because of a lack of workers.
"A lot of rice has fallen down, but the harvest is done all at once, so the rice cutters can't cut the rice that's fallen on the ground. I ran around the neighborhood looking for people, but most of them are on a tight schedule, and even if I offer a high price, there are still no workers, so for the past 2-3 days, I've been going to the fields to cut as much as I can by hand," said Mr. Ut.
Meanwhile, the price of rice is high, but after harvesting 5 hectares of land, the yield of 650kg/hectare makes it difficult for Mr. Tran Van To (Vi Thanh City, Hau Giang Province) to make a profit.
"Luckily, my family's rice fields are small so I can rent a cutting machine for 380,000 VND/cong. Because the rice is infected with pests and the recent storms, the yield is low. After deducting costs, the profit is about 1.8 million VND/cong," said Mr. To.
According to farmers in Hau Giang province, due to the impact of thunderstorms, the current winter-spring rice yield after harvest ranges from 600-800kg/cong, down about 150-200kg/cong compared to the same period last year.
According to a review by the agricultural sector of Hau Giang province, farmers in the province have harvested more than 19,000 hectares of autumn-winter rice, with an average yield of 5.53 tons/ha, and the remaining area is in the ripening stage.
As of October 21, Hau Giang province recorded 74.2 hectares of autumn-winter rice flooded in Phung Hiep district and Long My town, of which 3.2 hectares suffered yield damage at a rate of 15-20% on the same area.
In Vinh Long province, according to the provincial agricultural sector, farmers have harvested over 13,000 hectares of rice, reaching nearly 40% of the autumn-winter crop area, with an estimated average yield of 5.7 tons/ha. The impact of continuous thunderstorms during the ripening and harvest preparation stages has reduced rice quality and productivity, causing profits to decrease by 20-30%.
Local agricultural sectors recommend that farmers should increase field visits, reinforce dykes, clear water flows, actively pump to prevent flooding of rice fields; take advantage of favorable weather to quickly harvest rice fields that are ready to be cut to reduce damage caused by falling.
