Last year’s summer – autumn rice is harvested in Kiên Giang Province’s Hòn Đất District. Thousands of hectares of rice have been damaged by salinity and diseases in the ongoing rice crop. – VNA/VNS Photo Lê Huy Hải

KIÊN GIANG — Kiên Giang, the country’s largest rice producer, has more than 7,140ha of mùa rice crop damaged by 30 – 70 per cent because of salinity, according to the province Plant Cultivation and Protection Sub-department.

The damaged areas are in the districts of An Minh, An Biên and Vĩnh Thuận.

The mùa variety of rice is grown in the rainy season in areas where farming is rainfed. 

In the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province, farmers rotate between mùa in the rainy season and brackish-water shrimp in the dry season in the same fields.

The early conclusion of the 2020 rainy season means farmers in An Minh, An Biên and Vĩnh Thuận lack freshwater to wash out the saltwater from their fields from the shrimp farming.

The affected fields have lower yields and poor quality, causing losses to farmers.

Besides, more than 8,190ha of the 2020-21 winter – spring rice and mùa rice crops in the province are affected by rice pests like brown plant hoppers, worms, golden snails, and mice.

They have damaged rice growth and caused rice blast disease, grain discoloration disease, bacterial leaf blight and other diseases.

The sub-department has instructed farmers to take measures to prevent rice diseases, protect their fields and regularly monitor them to treat rice diseases properly.

Farmers planted 58,742ha of mùa rice in the 2020 rainy season and have harvested more than 4,720ha, mostly in An Biên and Vĩnh Thuận districts and Hà Tiên City.

Farmers sell the paddy at a high VNĐ6,600 – 7,000 a kilogramme.

Farmers have planted 282,604ha of 2020-21 winter – spring rice, or 98 per cent of the target.

Most of the crop is growing well.

The province targets a yield of 7.15 tonnes per hectare and total output of more than 2 million tonnes of paddy. – VNS