HÀ NỘI — About 1.14 million hectares of rice will be planted in northern Vietnamese provinces in the 2016-17 winter-spring crop, down 18,000 hectare compared to the 2015-16  winter-spring crop, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on Tuesday.

As of Monday,  most northern province authorities had secured freshwater for farming at over 515,000 hectares of agricultural land.

Hải Phòng City and Hà Nam Province both secured 100 per cent freshwater for farming in the winter-spring crop, the ministry said.

While provinces of Thái Bình, Ninh Bình, Phú Thọ and Hưng Yên are following to reach over 92 per cent of the target.

The ministry reported that Hải Dương Province has completed sowing 30,000 hectare of rice area, gaining 50 per cent of the target.

Lương Thị Kiểm, head of the cultivation office at the Hải Dương Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said local farmers had completed basic preparations for farming the winter-spring crop.

The average temperature from January to April will be about 0.5-1 degree Celsius higher than previous years, according to the agriculture ministry, while cold spells and deep freeze will not be long.

These are the favourable conditions for the good growth of rice, however, warm weather gives an opportunity for the spread of rice-damaging insects, according to an agricultural expert.      

So local authorities and agricultural departments need to prepare measures for insect prevention.  

Kiểm said that mice and yellow snails were the most rice-damage vermin, so local authorities have just launched an insect- killing campaign to prevent the spread of these crop-harmful animals.

Farmers in the north are happy to hear information about this year’s favourable weather in order to speed up the sowing process.

Vũ Thị Hà, a farmer in Hải Dương Province’s Tứ Kỳ said “We made full use of  warm weather in the last two weeks to finish sowing. Rice seed and fertiliser are available in the area, however, we hope local authorities ensure freshwater for farming."

She said Ngọc Sơn Agricultural Co-operative was contracting qualified experts to kill mice in the field. — VNS