Tran De District (Soc Trang Province) is a coastal locality, located in a closed irrigation area, often affected by saltwater intrusion and localized fresh water shortages in the dry season. To ensure the success of the main rice crop of the year (Winter-Spring), for more than 2 weeks now, farmers here have been busy sowing in the hope of a good harvest and good prices.
According to records, the varieties chosen by farmers are specialty, high-quality rice varieties such as ST, OM5451, OM18, OM34, Dai Thom 8...
Having just finished harvesting the Summer-Autumn rice crop, Mr. Lam Diep in Lieu Tu commune (Tran De district, Soc Trang province) took the opportunity to improve 4 hectares of land to plant the 2024 Winter-Spring rice crop according to the recommendations of the agricultural sector.
“This crop, I chose Dai Thom 8 because it is suitable for the weather and has limited disease. I was also trained by experts in rice cultivation and pest management,” said Mr. Diep.
Mr. Lieu Quol in Vien An commune (Tran De district, Soc Trang province) shared that the locality often suffers from saltwater intrusion and water shortages in the dry season, so planting early will help him and many farmers here avoid saltwater intrusion at the end of the season.
“The 2023-2024 Winter-Spring rice crop was sown late and was affected by saltwater, which reduced rice yield. Learning from experience, I started this crop early according to the recommended crop schedule. Harvesting rice before Tet will both avoid saltwater intrusion and generate income to prepare for Tet,” said Mr. Quol.
Meanwhile, in the fields of Long Duc commune (Long Phu district, Soc Trang province), rice has been planted for more than a month. Farmers here are actively going to the fields to monitor the weather, pests and diseases in order to have timely preventive solutions.
Mr. Nguyen Van Chin - a farmer in Long Duc commune - said that for nearly 10 years now, people here have proactively sowed the winter-spring rice crop early to avoid drought and salinity, ensuring productivity, rice quality, and high selling prices.
"In the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring rice crop, I sowed nearly a month earlier than the same period in previous years. 1 hectare of ST25 rice with a yield of 800 kg/1,000 m2 was purchased by the enterprise at a price of 11,500 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, the profit was about 50 million VND/ha. Thanks to that, last year we had a prosperous Tet holiday," said Mr. Chin.
In 2016, thousands of hectares of rice were damaged by drought and salinity in Soc Trang province. Learning from the historic drought and salinity, local authorities and the agricultural sector proactively developed a suitable crop calendar to effectively avoid drought and salinity.
For coastal districts with high risk of saline intrusion, harvest before Tet and for inland districts with later saline intrusion, people can organize harvest 10-15 days after Tet.
