Some farmers in Chau Phu district (An Giang) sent a letter to Working Group 970 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, proposing that they continue to sow rice varieties for autumn-winter 2021, instead of releasing them to catch the floods.
Every year, An Giang has a plan to release floods in the autumn-winter rice crop in the form of 3 years and 8 crops rotated by each locality.
According to many long-term rice farmers in An Giang, the annual flood discharge to collect alluvium will bring many benefits in the next rice crop. Specifically: Gradually improving the soil, increasing the fertility of the soil, limiting weeds and weeds, cutting the source of pests remaining in the field, reducing organic poisoning, reducing the amount of toxins in the soil, increase soil fertility, reduce fertilizers, pesticides and increase production efficiency…
More specifically, the flood discharge fields also reduce flood water pressure when the peak water of the Mekong River flows in to avoid the collapse of the dike in areas where autumn-winter rice varieties are being planted. In addition, the flood discharge also helps abundant aquatic species such as fish, shrimp and crabs to develop, thereby creating more jobs to help residents in flood areas have more stable sources of income from fishing. .
However, besides many benefits, the discharge of floodwaters to collect alluvium affects the production of autumn-winter rice, because it takes 2-3 months for farmers to cultivate autumn-winter rice. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 epidemic is complicated, it is necessary to increase food production.
From that fact, a number of farmers in Chau Phu district sent a letter of complaint to Working Group 970 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development asking for support in difficulty. Farmer Le My Sen (birth certificate name Le Thanh Khoan) in My Duc commune, Chau Phu, An Giang province has reflected via the hotline to Group 970, with the content of asking to continue to sow the autumn-winter 2021 rice varieties.
In his letter of complaint, Mr. Le My Sen stated: Currently, his family is renting 6 hectares of land in sub-region 2, My Hiep hamlet, My Duc commune to grow rice. Currently, the commune government does not allow him to sow the autumn-winter rice, the reason is in the plan to release the flood to get alluvium into the fields. This policy, Mr. Sen and other large rice-growing households in the area, has not been discussed by the Commune People’s Committee, and there is no consensus.
Mr. Sen said that the land he tac is located in the area of the embankment, an area of 6km2. Meanwhile, in other hamlets such as My Thanh hamlet, My Duc commune, farmers can sow normal rice, so he and a few other rice-growing households nearby are not allowed to sow the seeds, leaving the land uncultivated. With that local approach, it wouldn’t be fair to his family and a few other farmers.
Source: Nongnghiep.vn