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Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01AGR170508
Winter-spring crop losses mount
(17-05-2008)
HA NOI ? The Southern and Central Coastal Region has lost 50,000 tonnes of crops in the winter-spring crop, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The ministry reported that the region harvested a total of 170,000 ha of rice with an average production of 53 quintal per ha, two quintals lower than the previous crop. Total production of rice is expected to reach 900,000 tonne this year.
"Complicated weather patterns, especially during Tet, and the onset of an early rainy season during the blossoming stage seriously hampered the first crop cycle," said Director of Cultivation Department Nguyen Tri Ngoc.
"However, the majority of the rice crop burgeoned at a favourable time, saving the crop from a greater loss," he added.
MARD has instructed provincial authorities to keep in closer contact with farmers and train them on proper sowing techniques as well as how to change crops for those in unproductive areas. The ministry also proposed an expansion of new technologies to develop the areas where rice is grown in Quang Nam and Binh Dinh Provinces.
The ministry asked its corresponding departments in regional provinces to plan for new crops and help farmers secure the nation?s food security.
"It looks certain that the next set of crops will face difficulties with the storm season approaching. We have to be ready to deal with times of flood and storms," urged Ngoc.
Public works, such as strengthening the dykes and dredging the drainage system, are simultaneously being conducted in these provinces to prepare for the new crop.
Farmers fight pests
Farmers in northern coastal provinces are facing an epidemic caused by the leaf-folding moth (cnaphalocrocis medinalin).
The outbreak, said to be the biggest ever experienced in the region, has already affected 400,000 ha of rice paddy, four times the size of a similar outbreak last year.
Another 80,000ha have been affected by the brown plant-hopper (Nilaparbata nugens) and rice blast (Pyricularea grisea), a virulent fungus.
The leaf-folding moth produces a small caterpillar that causes heavy damage to rice plants when they are blossoming, according to the MARD?s Plant Protection Department.
Thai Binh Province heads a list of 10 provinces infested by the moth. It is followed by Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh.
Head of the department?s Plant Protection Division Ngo Tien Dung said the insects spread when rice was blossoming. If not destroyed in time, it could seriously affect rice production.
It?s estimated the epidemic will reduce crops by 30 to 50 per cent in heavily-affected paddy fields in Thai Binh?s Thai Thuy, Kien Xuong, Tien Hai and Vu Thu districts.
The prolonged cold spell in the first months of this year killed the moth?s natural enemies, creating favourable conditions for it to spread, said Dung.
He said the campaign by the plant-protection sector had little effect because the use of pesticides reduced this year and organic protection was yet to take effect.
According to Thai Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in March, 30 to 40 insects were found on one square metre of rice crop, a dozen times higher than in recent years.
The province declared it was suffering from an epidemic because about 84,000ha of rice were affected. The department has sent more than 50 technicians to inspect and guide farmers in the use of insecticides.
Deputy Director of Thanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Sang said 11,000ha out of a total 117,000 in Thanh Hoa Province had been damaged by the insect.
He said plant-protection workers were on duty all day and night in the paddy fields to provide advice and help.
Director of Nam Dinh Agriculture and Rural Development Le Xuan Thuy said the province had sprayed pesticide over 69,000 infested ha, but much of it had to be sprayed a second time because the first spraying did not work.
Besides the leaf folding moth, Dung said 85,000ha of paddy field in northern provinces, including Nam Dinh, Hai Phong and Hai Duong, had also been invaded by the brown plant-hopper and rice blast (Pyricularea grisea), a virulent fungus.
"Although the rice plants have been sprayed with chemicals, we cannot be sure whether the disease will spread due to the complexity of weather," said Director of Cultivation Department Nguyen Tri Ngoc.
According to Ngoc, the harvest will start earlier than usual. However, the planting department predicts that the winter-spring crops in the north will not result in a high yield. ? VNS
Winter-spring crop losses mount
(17-05-2008)
HA NOI ? The Southern and Central Coastal Region has lost 50,000 tonnes of crops in the winter-spring crop, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The ministry reported that the region harvested a total of 170,000 ha of rice with an average production of 53 quintal per ha, two quintals lower than the previous crop. Total production of rice is expected to reach 900,000 tonne this year.
"Complicated weather patterns, especially during Tet, and the onset of an early rainy season during the blossoming stage seriously hampered the first crop cycle," said Director of Cultivation Department Nguyen Tri Ngoc.
"However, the majority of the rice crop burgeoned at a favourable time, saving the crop from a greater loss," he added.
MARD has instructed provincial authorities to keep in closer contact with farmers and train them on proper sowing techniques as well as how to change crops for those in unproductive areas. The ministry also proposed an expansion of new technologies to develop the areas where rice is grown in Quang Nam and Binh Dinh Provinces.
The ministry asked its corresponding departments in regional provinces to plan for new crops and help farmers secure the nation?s food security.
"It looks certain that the next set of crops will face difficulties with the storm season approaching. We have to be ready to deal with times of flood and storms," urged Ngoc.
Public works, such as strengthening the dykes and dredging the drainage system, are simultaneously being conducted in these provinces to prepare for the new crop.
Farmers fight pests
Farmers in northern coastal provinces are facing an epidemic caused by the leaf-folding moth (cnaphalocrocis medinalin).
The outbreak, said to be the biggest ever experienced in the region, has already affected 400,000 ha of rice paddy, four times the size of a similar outbreak last year.
Another 80,000ha have been affected by the brown plant-hopper (Nilaparbata nugens) and rice blast (Pyricularea grisea), a virulent fungus.
The leaf-folding moth produces a small caterpillar that causes heavy damage to rice plants when they are blossoming, according to the MARD?s Plant Protection Department.
Thai Binh Province heads a list of 10 provinces infested by the moth. It is followed by Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh.
Head of the department?s Plant Protection Division Ngo Tien Dung said the insects spread when rice was blossoming. If not destroyed in time, it could seriously affect rice production.
It?s estimated the epidemic will reduce crops by 30 to 50 per cent in heavily-affected paddy fields in Thai Binh?s Thai Thuy, Kien Xuong, Tien Hai and Vu Thu districts.
The prolonged cold spell in the first months of this year killed the moth?s natural enemies, creating favourable conditions for it to spread, said Dung.
He said the campaign by the plant-protection sector had little effect because the use of pesticides reduced this year and organic protection was yet to take effect.
According to Thai Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in March, 30 to 40 insects were found on one square metre of rice crop, a dozen times higher than in recent years.
The province declared it was suffering from an epidemic because about 84,000ha of rice were affected. The department has sent more than 50 technicians to inspect and guide farmers in the use of insecticides.
Deputy Director of Thanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Sang said 11,000ha out of a total 117,000 in Thanh Hoa Province had been damaged by the insect.
He said plant-protection workers were on duty all day and night in the paddy fields to provide advice and help.
Director of Nam Dinh Agriculture and Rural Development Le Xuan Thuy said the province had sprayed pesticide over 69,000 infested ha, but much of it had to be sprayed a second time because the first spraying did not work.
Besides the leaf folding moth, Dung said 85,000ha of paddy field in northern provinces, including Nam Dinh, Hai Phong and Hai Duong, had also been invaded by the brown plant-hopper and rice blast (Pyricularea grisea), a virulent fungus.
"Although the rice plants have been sprayed with chemicals, we cannot be sure whether the disease will spread due to the complexity of weather," said Director of Cultivation Department Nguyen Tri Ngoc.
According to Ngoc, the harvest will start earlier than usual. However, the planting department predicts that the winter-spring crops in the north will not result in a high yield. ? VNS