Experts have warned of difficult times for the upcoming rice crop, fromnow to the end of the year, with serious droughts threatening the cropson the front end and severe flooding looming on the back.
Director of the Central Hydro-meteorology Forecasting Centre Bui MinhTang made the above statement at a meeting to review the results of thewinter-spring rice crop and to launch plans for the summer-autumn crop.
He also said that other obstacles, including thethreat of the black dwarf stunted disease and shortages of hybrid ricevarieties, would seriously affect the productivity of crops from now tothe end of the year.
According to Tang, the averagerainfall from the beginning of this year to present had decreased 20 to30 percent in some areas compared to last year, while it had increasedfrom 60 to 70 percent in other areas.
Rain in someareas couldn't meet both the demands for agriculture production andirrigation work. Currently, water levels in the Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quangand Son La irrigation lakes were at dead levels.
Inthe future, the sunny weather would continue, especially in somenorthern and central provinces. It was forecast that the averagetemperature for this year could reach a record high.
However, due to the long-lasting drought, storms and tropical lowpressure zones would come later than in other years, near the end of theharvest.
Central and north-central provinces wouldhave to take measures to cope with the lack of water at the beginning ofthe crop and with flooding at the end of the crop, Tang said.
Regarding measures to cope with diseases, director of RedRiver Delta Thai Binh province's Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Nguyen Huu Rong said that the province would plant 45,000haof rice, an increase of 6,000ha compared to the winter-spring crop.
All seeds will be treated with chemical substances beforebeing sowed.
Director of the Department ofCultivation Nguyen Tri Ngoc said that for rice crops in low-lying areasthat could be affected by flooding, or for those with unstableproductivity, farmers should shift to other kinds of crops.
For the Red River Delta, where 70,000 to 80,000ha of rice wereplanted in low-lying areas, farmers should plant rice varieties withhigh trunks and good water resistance.
Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said that provincesneeded to be well-prepared to carry out preventative measures againstthe black dwarf stunted disease and to protect against floods near theend of the harvest.
Apart from proper conduction ofirrigation systems in order to have effective solutions for drought andflood prevention, provinces needed to ensure that they had enough waterpumps at pumping stations, and extra pumps to cope with severe flooding,Phat said.
Despite difficulties such as drought andblack dwarf stunted disease outbreaks, the winter-spring crop stillharvested 5.5 million tonnes of rice, equal to last year's same crop,according to deputy director of the Cultivation Department Pham DongQuang.
Many provinces had started to plant hybridrice varieties, which accounted for the good yields, including centralThanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces./.
Director of the Central Hydro-meteorology Forecasting Centre Bui MinhTang made the above statement at a meeting to review the results of thewinter-spring rice crop and to launch plans for the summer-autumn crop.
He also said that other obstacles, including thethreat of the black dwarf stunted disease and shortages of hybrid ricevarieties, would seriously affect the productivity of crops from now tothe end of the year.
According to Tang, the averagerainfall from the beginning of this year to present had decreased 20 to30 percent in some areas compared to last year, while it had increasedfrom 60 to 70 percent in other areas.
Rain in someareas couldn't meet both the demands for agriculture production andirrigation work. Currently, water levels in the Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quangand Son La irrigation lakes were at dead levels.
Inthe future, the sunny weather would continue, especially in somenorthern and central provinces. It was forecast that the averagetemperature for this year could reach a record high.
However, due to the long-lasting drought, storms and tropical lowpressure zones would come later than in other years, near the end of theharvest.
Central and north-central provinces wouldhave to take measures to cope with the lack of water at the beginning ofthe crop and with flooding at the end of the crop, Tang said.
Regarding measures to cope with diseases, director of RedRiver Delta Thai Binh province's Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Nguyen Huu Rong said that the province would plant 45,000haof rice, an increase of 6,000ha compared to the winter-spring crop.
All seeds will be treated with chemical substances beforebeing sowed.
Director of the Department ofCultivation Nguyen Tri Ngoc said that for rice crops in low-lying areasthat could be affected by flooding, or for those with unstableproductivity, farmers should shift to other kinds of crops.
For the Red River Delta, where 70,000 to 80,000ha of rice wereplanted in low-lying areas, farmers should plant rice varieties withhigh trunks and good water resistance.
Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said that provincesneeded to be well-prepared to carry out preventative measures againstthe black dwarf stunted disease and to protect against floods near theend of the harvest.
Apart from proper conduction ofirrigation systems in order to have effective solutions for drought andflood prevention, provinces needed to ensure that they had enough waterpumps at pumping stations, and extra pumps to cope with severe flooding,Phat said.
Despite difficulties such as drought andblack dwarf stunted disease outbreaks, the winter-spring crop stillharvested 5.5 million tonnes of rice, equal to last year's same crop,according to deputy director of the Cultivation Department Pham DongQuang.
Many provinces had started to plant hybridrice varieties, which accounted for the good yields, including centralThanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces./.
