Farmers cut Tet holiday to resume production hinh anh 1Farmers harvest vegetable (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Farmers in suburban districts of Hanoi resumed work even as other residents continued their Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations.

Warm weather in the northern region around Tet created favourable conditions for the 2016-2017 Winter-Spring crop, prompting the early return to the fields.

In Quang Tien commune, Soc Son district, farmers were back in the fields on February 1, or the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

One of them, Nguyen Thi Quy, said they had to prepare rice seedlings for transplanting by the end of next week or they would miss the winter-spring crop season.

In Dai Dong commune, Thach That district, some farmers had already started transplanting the rice seedlings while others worked the soil and embanked the fields’ edges.

The rice fields, which were covered with water a few days ago, were fresh green with the colour of rice seedlings.

Farmer Hoang Thi Ngan said that during very first days of Lunar New Year, her family members took turns to visit their field and nurse the seedlings.

“Tet is not over but it’s time to transplant the seedlings,” she said, adding that weather has been quite good for farming so far.

Also on February 1 morning, farmers in Phuc Tho district’s Tam Hiep, Ngoc Tao, Phung Duong and Phuc Hoa communes said they were eager to resume farming.

Nguyen Thi Hoa said that her family wanted to cultivate 2 mau (a mau is 3,600 square metres) of rice in this year’s Winter-Spring crop and over the last two days, they’d transplanted rice seedlings on almost on one mau.

Bui Thi Mao, a farmer in Tam Dong commune, Me Linh district, said that farming activities there usually faced a water shortage, so they’d started storing water before Tet.

“The water was pumped from canals into the fields so that farmers could start transplanting seedlings,” Mao said.

Nguyen Vinh Lien, head of Irrigation Division under the city’s agriculture department, said that five irrigation companies in the city worked through the festival to operate the pumps and provide water for agriculture production.

He said the city plans to have 98,000ha for the 2016-2017 Winter-Spring Crop and 45 percent of this area has received water for cultivation, helping farmers resume work early.

Vegetable growers in Van Noi commune, Dong Anh district were also busy in first days of new Rooster Year.

The vegetable gardens of Van Tri hamlet in Van Noi commune is a major source for markets in Hanoi, providing about 100,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables every year.

Bui Thi San said that vegetables grew well in ongoing weather conditions and growers like San were happy to see increased demand and consumption for vegetable during Tet celebration.

Flower growers across the city including those in Me Linh and Bac Tu Liem districts have harvested the last flowers and started preparing the soil for new crops.

Nguyen Thi Ty of the Tay Tuu flower village said that her family grew 1.5 mau of lilies for Tet, but suffered losses because of unfavourable weather conditions.

As she removed dead lilies and tilled the soil, she said she would grow roses for Valentine’s Day this month and Women’s Day next month, and hoped the weather would be good.-VNA
VNA