Northern localities work hard to improve rice productivity

Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)

Nam Dinh (VNA) – Vietnam’s northern region harvested some 5.6 million tonnes of rice during the summer-autumn crop, up more than 320,000 tonnes from the same period last year, heard a recent conference. 

Tran Xuan Dinh, deputy head of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said at the conference that each hectare of rice produces an average of 5 tonnes, up 0.35 tonne against 2017. 

Since the beginning of this year, the localities have shifted over 10,480 hectares of rice to other crops, a year-on-year rise of 1,800 hectares, the official said. 

As of early October 2018, the northern provinces had cultivated nearly 280,000 hectares of vegetables, mostly corn, sweet potato, soybean and peanut, he added. 

Many localities have applied science and technology in production, Dinh said, taking the organic rice farming model in Hanoi’s Chuong My district and the rice production-consumption chain in Nam Dinh province which have yielded high economic values as examples. 

It is forecast that the region will face water shortages during the upcoming winter-spring crop.

Given this, northern midland and mountainous provinces have taken the initiative in shifting rice cultivation to other crops. 

Apart from forming large-scale rice fields, regional localities have also continued with technological application in production in order to raise productivity and quality. 

MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh urged cities and provinces to roll out preferential policies and incentives to attract investors in agriculture and rural areas, while developing linkage chains among farmers as well as between farmers and businesses to ensure markets for local products. 

He also suggested expanding services of enterprises, cooperatives and farmers’ groups in the supply of varieties, materials and pesticide, and irrigation to cut production cost and improve efficiency. 

The region is expected to cultivate more than 1.1 million hectares of rice and garner some 7.2 million tonnes in the upcoming winter-spring crop.