Focus on fast sowing according to the schedule

In the 2022-2023 winter-spring rice harvest, the entire Mekong Delta region plans to sow nearly 1.6 million hectares. Currently, in the swimming season, the flood water decreases very quickly, which creates favorable conditions for farmers to focus on sowing according to the recommended schedule.

At the beginning of December, the fields behind people’s homes in Tan An Hamlet, Tan An Township, Tan Hiep District and Kien Giang were full of noises of cranes, ploughs, stemmed augers, hooks in drainage ditches… Mr. Sau Body had it done just waded from the field to wail, the water receded quickly, met the strong north wind that blew, the field surface was dry, so the machine was not on time. Now I need a pump to add more water…

Covering an area of ​​281,000 ha, Kien Giang is the province with the largest plan to sow winter-spring rice from 2022 to 2023 in the Mekong Delta. The agricultural sector has created a concentrated sowing schedule in 3 phases. The first sowing will be early from the end of October 2022, the autumn-winter 2022 rice has not yet been harvested, the flood is still high, so sowing is not much. The second sowing period from November 15 to 30 is a concentrated sowing period, covering most of the area in Giong Rieng, Tan Hiep, Go Quao, Chau Thanh, Rach Gia, Hon Dat, Kien Luong and Giang Wall districts. Farmers actively pumped out water and sowed quickly. At the beginning of December 2022, the total sown area was 146,562 hectares, reaching over 52% of the planned area.

Kien Giang Plant Protection – Plant Protection Department recommends farmers to focus on sowing the remaining area in the third phase, sowing from December 15 to December 30, 2022, mainly in low-lying areas with slowly receding water, including the remaining area from Giong Rieng, Hon Dat, Kien Luong, Go Quao, Giang Thanh and Rach Gia districts. Under no circumstances should you extend the sowing time until the beginning of 2023 to avoid the risk of drought and salinity at the end of the harvest.

Although the rice has just been sown, some pests have appeared in the rice. Specifically, the winter-spring rice mosquito epidemic is suspected to be 130 ha, mainly mild infections (rate 5-10%), ages 2-3, occurring in My Hiep Son Township, Hon Dat District. In addition, other harmful objects such as swimming worms, brown leafhoppers, mice, thrips, stem borers, powdery mildew, yellow apple slugs… occur and cause sporadic to mild damage without affecting rice growth.

According to the Kien Giang Plant Protection Authority, farmers should increase regular field visits to detect pests early and take timely preventive measures. Note that the yellow apple snail epidemic will increase the infected area on newly planted winter-spring rice tea in the 2022-2023 crop, especially in low-lying fields that are difficult to drain when it rains.

Similarly, in Hau Giang, the province plans to sow 2022-2023 winter-spring rice harvest in an area of ​​75,000 ha, down 1,200 ha compared to the same period last year. In the first phase of concentrated seeding (until the end of November), farmers have seeded 28,000 hectares, mainly in Long My, Chau Thanh A, Vi Thuy districts…

Bach Van Son, director of Hau Giang’s plantation and crop protection sub-department, said that now that the floodwaters are receding rapidly, the sub-department is recommending farmers to actively pump and batter, clean fields, repair embankments and seed for to prepare the second batch as planned for the winter-spring harvest 2022 – 2023, with the aim of completely sowing the remaining area this December.

In Hau Giang, a number of harmful organisms appeared at the beginning of harvest, and farmers actively managed to prevent and control them. In the coming period, people must continue to collect snails and snail eggs in the field, give priority to manual measures, and limit the use of chemicals to kill snails in order to protect the environment and kill animals. In addition, it is possible to start a community movement to eradicate rats to control the population and reduce the spread and damage of seedling stage rice to newly sown rice seeds.

Mechanization to reduce the amount of seed

Winter-Spring Rice Harvest 2022 – 2023, Can Tho City plans to sow 74,280 ha. In order for the 2022-2023 winter-spring rice harvest to be effective, the Can Tho Plant Protection Agency recommends that the local agricultural sector must actively mobilize farmers immediately after the autumn-winter rice harvest to clean up the soil, water in bring the field to soak the rice straw, kill pathogens and limit organic poisoning due to the undecomposed straw. In particular, farmers who sow winter-spring rice varieties need to focus on mass production, but still ensure harvest timing, quality and production efficiency.

Ms. Pham Thi Minh Hieu, head of Can Tho’s plantation and crop protection sub-department, said that the 2022-2023 winter-spring rice sowing and sowing schedule will be carried out in two phases. Phase 1 sowing from October 28th to November 3rd, 2022. Phase 2 from November 18th to 24th, 2022. The places need to closely monitor the on-site BPH and the migratory situation in combination with the hydrological regime and rainstorms in order to implement and deploy the appropriate winter-spring rice cultivation schedule.

Recommended main rice varieties include: Dai Thom 8, Jasmine 85, OM5451, OM18, OM4218, OM2517, OM7347. It is recommended that growers use certified varieties using row seeding, sparse seeding, cluster seeding, and planter methods. In addition, the amount of seeds used should not exceed 100 kg/ha, which particularly encourages the use of cultivation methods with 50-60 kg seeds/ha. Applying technical advances in rice production in a safe and environmentally friendly direction such as “3 decrease, 3 increase”, “1 right, 5 decrease”, alternate flooding – dry irrigation, applying ecological technology, using probiotics…

Ms. Pham Thi Minh Hieu stressed: Before sowing winter-spring rice, farmers need to pay attention to ploughing, ax and plowing, combined with leveling the field surface, digging ditches to create good drainage conditions and favorable conditions for farmers . Care and pest control in the field. Reinforcement of slopes, culverts, dams to ensure favorable water regulation in the field. In terms of care, it is necessary to apply phosphate fertilizers, lime fertilizers, organic fertilizers… to stimulate rice root growth and limit organic poisoning.

In Dong Thap, the province’s winter-spring rice crop from 2022 to 2023 will seed 192,000 hectares with an estimated yield of over 1.3 million tons. Now that the flooding is in peak season, the watershed areas such as Tan Hong, Hong Ngu and Hong Ngu City are flooding the fields to facilitate the production of winter-spring crops. In the flood areas of downstream such as Thap Muoi and Cao Lanh, farmers are currently clearing their fields to sow the early winter-spring rice…

Mr. Doan Thanh Son from Doc Binh Kieu Township, Thap Muoi District said: In this case, his family has sown 4 ha of OM18 seeds, the land area in the dike area is quite safe. After eating the fall-winter rice crop, the family let the land lie dormant for nearly 40 days, releasing floodwaters to make the soil “eat alluvium.” At present, the whole community is concentrating on pumping water, cleaning the fields, the rice has been sown for a week, the rice is growing well, preparing for the first phase fertilization. Mr. Son expects that this year’s winter-spring rice crop will be less pest and disease-free, have a high yield and be sold at a good profit as everything is now increasing in price, especially the cost of input materials and rent.

Fertilizer prices have fallen since harvest began, making it easier for farmers to breathe

At present, the Mekong Delta provinces are busy planting the 2022-2023 winter-spring rice crop, although a month ago everyone was worried about high prices for gasoline and input materials, especially fertilizers and pesticides. However, from the end of November and the beginning of December 2022, the price of agricultural materials showed signs of a slight decline, with the manure price falling from VND 10 to 50,000/bag. Notably, the current sales price of Phu My Urea Fertilizer at agents is VND 720,000/bag, down VND 30,000/bag compared to the previous month. Ca Mau Urea from 760,000 VND/bag will be reduced to 710,000 VND/bag.

Also, Potassium is now reduced from 1.1 million dong/bag to 960,000 dong/bag. Pesticide products remained stable, with early season herbicides, rice seed germinators and snail killers being the top three selling products today.