Thousands of hectares of rice affected by salinity, diseases in Kien Giang

Kien Giang (VNA) - Kien Giang, the country’s largest rice producer, has more than 7,140ha of ‘mua’ rice crop damaged by 30-70 percent because of salinity, according to the province’s Plant Cultivation and Protection Sub-department.

The damaged areas are in the districts of An Minh, An Bien and Vinh Thuan.

The ‘mua’ variety of rice is grown in the rainy season in areas where farming is rainfed. In the Mekong Delta province, farmers rotate between ‘mua’ 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 Bien and Vinh Thuan 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 2020-2021 winter – spring rice and mua 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 mua rice in the 2020 rainy season and have harvested more than 4,720ha, mostly in An Bien and Vinh Thuan districts and Ha Tien  city. They sell the paddy at a high 6,600 – 7,000 VND a kilogramme.

Farmers have planted 282,604ha of 2020-2021 winter – spring rice, or 98 percent 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./.