Duong Thi Nuong said the harvested seeds were sprouting – and thus cannot be sold – since she didn’t have sufficient time to dry them due to a wave of rainy days.
Many farmers across southern provinces have had to harvest half-ripened paddies recently to avoid losses after storms collapsed rice plants and an outbreak of brown planthopper ravaged crops.
“Rush harvest” has become a familiar term for southern farmers, who also faced difficulties drying the rice due to the inclement weather.
This has consequently resulted in wet rice being sold at a loss.
Many farmers said they were expecting support from local authorities in terms of investing in drying kilns or other equipment to cope with harvests in the wet season.
“We couldn’t eat the sprouted paddy or think of selling them,” Nuong said.
“We initially had expected to buffer our losses after managing to harvest the collapsed field with a yield of four tons per hectare.” Another farmer from Thanh Tri District, Truong Van My, said he had to harvest his paddy crop early due to the heavy rains.
“I had to harvest the unripe paddy rice to avoid a total loss,” My said.
My had planted 0.3 hectare of chin may – a highly productive rice seedling which was often bought by other farmers to plant in the following seasons.
“Earlier, many farmers had reserved to buy my crop for seed rice,” he said.
“But no one came to buy my rice after the early harvest.” Planthopper threat Farmers in southern provinces have also had to rush their harvests due to the threat of brown planthoppers that have plagued the area recently.
Farmer Tran Van Lam from Thanh Tri District said he had harvested 3.5 hectares of paddy 10 days ahead of schedule as the number of brown pests was multiplying on his fields.
“I had to harvest my 1.5 hectare of paddy as soon as possible,” said Lam’s brother Tran Minh Sang.
“My loss would increase by the day due to the destruction of the pest.” Rush harvest has also been a common occurrence in the Mekong Delta provinces of Bac Lieu and Hau Giang.
Tran Van Bao, a farmer from Hong Dan District in Bac LieuProvince, said he had reaped one hectare of half-ripened rice due to fear of the encroaching brown planthoppers.
Bao said he had harvested a 90-day old paddy of ham trau rice, which is supposed to ripen in 105 days.
He additionally lamented that had lost one third of his paddy during previous rains.
Farmer Truong Van Tinh from Long My District in Hau Giang Province said he had lost one fourth of his one-hectare rice paddy due to rain, while the onslaught of the planthoppers has also reduced his crop yield.
Reported by Tien Trinh |
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