Northern provinces set for bumper harvest

With fresh water and rice seedlings in abundance on farms in northern provinces this year, the winter-spring crop would yield a bumper harvest, said head of the Cultivation Department Nguyen Tri Ngoc.

Ngoc said up to 70 per cent of rice fields in the Hong (Red) delta provinces had been well irrigated after water was discharged from reservoirs to feed farms.

Many provinces have been able to irrigate 90 per cent of their rice fields including Phu Tho, Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh.

Director of Ha Noi’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department Tran Xuan Viet said more than 80,200ha equivalent to 80.3 per cent of the winter-spring crop in the capital city had received water from reservoirs.

He also acknowledged that some provinces such as Hung Yen and Vinh Phuc only received enough water to feed 50 per cent of their crops, due to their high altitude.

This situation would be rectified with plans by the Cultivation and Irrigation Departments to discharge water from reservoirs for the second time, starting on February 13 this year, said Ngoc.

“Circumstances will dictate whether we have an adequate supply of water for the crops,” he added.

Favourable weather conditions would help to ensure that the winter-spring crop would be harvested on time, he said.

The National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre had previously said that insufficient rainfall was likely to affect the winter-spring crop across the country.

Head of the centre Bui Minh Tang said the crop would be dependant on water from reservoirs.

Water levels in the Hong River were at 0.45m in Ha Noi on Thursday. The centre forecast that the level would rise to approximately 2m on February 13 after hydroelectricity plant reservoirs released their water.

According to the Irrigation Department, 630,757ha of rice in northern midland provinces are in need of water while 555,000ha in Hong delta provinces are also thirsty. – VNS