Don’t be dependent on high tide and saltwater intrusion

Winter-spring is the most awaited harvest of the year by farmers. On the rice area of ​​this culture alone, the sites in the Mekong Delta will sow almost 1.6 million hectares. In a favorable context, there are many, but the challenges are not small, paying attention to the guidance and support of farmers to achieve a successful harvest is an issue that requires special attention from the functional units from the very beginning.

Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said: For rice production in the Mekong Delta, there is no need to be subjective as each crop has its own disadvantages in terms of weather and hydrometeorology. . Weather forecast, meteorology, hydrology may or may not happen, may go in a positive direction or in a more negative direction for rice production in general. Therefore, in directing the production of the winter-spring harvest from 2022 to 2023, the utmost vigilance must always be maintained. The coastal area of ​​the Mekong Delta from Long An to Ha Tien must go under in October 2022 and choose a level of safety for producers.

The upper, middle and remaining coastal areas need to focus on November 2022 sowing with an area of ​​700,000 – 800,000 ha. This is the time for high rice yields and is most favorable for rice plant development. Sowing in December 2022 is possible for the remaining areas.

“I also want to repeat that sowing in January is very dangerous for the situation of water sources and diseases. In addition to the winter-spring rice fields sown in October, November and December, the Mekong Delta region has about 100,000-150,000 ha of January sowing, all factors such as pests, weather, hydrometeorology, risk fall at this point. Therefore, apart from the special cases of regions with too many difficulties, the rest of the season should not be dragged into January, which is particularly important for the provinces of Tra Vinh, Bac Lieu, Vinh Long and parts of Long An. Tung is recommended.

Another factor is the current situation of water resources, in addition to natural factors in the Mekong, there are also human factors. Therefore, it is not possible to entrust our production to completely natural water sources, as the annual rules have changed.

For the winter-spring harvest of 2022 – 2023, forecasts from hydrometeorological agencies and the General Department of Water Resources indicate the following: tides and water levels will be higher than the annual average. In coastal areas, farmers have awareness and experience in preventing drought and salinity, while in upstream areas, the flooding situation is not high and therefore also reaches a safe level.

Speaking about the irrigation system for winter-spring rice harvest, Mr. Le Thanh Tung said that the irrigation system is not fully active at Can Tho, Vinh Long, part of Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Tien Giang at present. The system of farmers’ embankments and levees is also low, flood can break the levee and invade the fields with salt concentrations that cannot kill plants, but accumulate and degrade crops, reduce growth, development and yield.

Therefore, local professional authorities for these areas must regularly monitor the situation of water sources and water volume, and recommend people to build levees to protect orchards in summer, Tet and winter-spring rice to avoid risks that may occur at all Time from sowing to harvest. If the above problems are solved well, the winter-spring 2022-2023 rice harvest in the Mekong Delta is expected to fully win.

Beware of drought and salt at the end of the winter-spring harvest

According to Mr Le Thanh Tung, while in 2022 there will be a lot of rain in the Mekong Delta region towards the end of the year and upstream flooding will exceed Alarm III, higher than the average many years ago, there will be no impact the sowing of winter-spring rice from 2022 to 2023.

However, it is predicted that after the Lunar New Year at the end of the 2022-2023 winter-spring rice harvest, about 400,000 hectares of rice will be threatened by drought in the south. Especially the coastal areas in Long An, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang provinces. These 400,000 ha account for about 26% of the winter-spring rice area of ​​the entire region, so early sowing is required.

Communities must take seasonal precautions and proactively sow early in coastal areas that may be affected by saline intrusion. This is the only way to ensure that there is enough water for irrigation and to minimize any damage caused by salt water intrusion. In addition, also prevents local drought in some areas in the sweet alluvial plain.

Therefore, the Mekong Delta provinces always keep the highest vigilance regarding the problem of drought, salinity and pests. For example, if salt water enters the Mekong Delta in early December or January and continues until April and May, there must be a plan so that rice cultivation is stopped at that time in the most dangerous areas and the vulnerable areas of the field.

Production costs must continue to be reduced quickly

According to the assessment of former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh at the 2022 Autumn-Winter Crop and Crop Production Review Conference, the implementation of the 2022-2023 Winter-Spring Crop Production Plan in the Southeast in the region and took place in the Mekong Delta. Lately in Can Tho City we are very happy that the local farmers have greatly reduced the amount of fertilizers over time. The reduction in fertilizer, but the rice yield has not been reduced. Another important point, according to Mr. Doanh, is that the reduction in seeding in the Mekong Delta has seen positive changes in recent years, but is still slow.

Currently, communities are still using too many varieties of rice for sowing, which wastes seeds, generates greenhouse gas emissions, consumes water, and creates conditions for pests and diseases to develop. Therefore, municipalities need to focus more on developing technical packages to reduce costs, especially the amount of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds.

The Mekong Delta accounts for 52% of the country’s rice-growing area and has fostered the advantage of being the largest rice bowl, contributing more than 90% of Vietnam’s rice exports. Contributing to enhancing the role and position of the rice exporter in the world’s leading group, ensuring food security and stabilizing the lives of people in the rural areas of the region.

Therefore, at the very beginning of the 2022-2023 winter-spring rice harvest, the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta must advise people to reduce the amount of fertilizer and rice seed in order to reduce input costs, reduce production costs and ensure safety. Post-harvest profits.

In particular, communities in the region need to accelerate measures to apply scientific advances in production to ensure agricultural efficiency, reduce costs and improve product quality. In doing so, it is necessary to pay attention to solutions to strengthen the inspection and stabilization of agricultural material prices, so that people can safely plant the rice crop in winter and spring, which will help ensure the goal of food security and the strength of rice export the Mekong Delta Region.

In order to ensure profitable winter-spring rice production, farmers need to apply advanced technical solutions in the field to reduce production costs, with the support of enterprises, the government departments in the region, ministries and branches being extremely necessary.