About 200,000 hectares of rice were flooded, damaged by storm No. 3.
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TONS OF RICE AND VEGETABLE SEEDS ARE NEEDED
For rice alone, 200,000 hectares were flooded, with estimated damage of about VND3,000 billion. For crops and fruit trees, the damage was about VND1,250 billion.
The conference scene, September 18, 2024,
“It is very painful, very heartbreaking, many areas were flooded up to the tops of banana trees, many areas growing ornamental plants and fruit trees worth billions of VND were flooded. There are rice fields that are ready to be harvested but have not been harvested yet, the flooding caused the rice to sprout like bean sprouts”, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung shared.
Deputy Minister Hoang Trung: “The total damage in the crop sector is estimated at more than 4,000 billion VND”.
Deputy Minister Hoang Trung also said that on Monday (September 16), Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan held a meeting and directed the deputy minister and the sectors to be proactive with the highest spirit, join hands to help people in the localities overcome the consequences.
“In order to have resources to restore production soon, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also called for the cooperation of businesses. Businesses are also very responsible, joining hands to share the loss of the people. The Ministry will work with the business community to the best of its ability, with the quickest and most timely spirit, to support people to quickly stabilize their lives and restore production.”
Mr. Hoang Trung, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production, said that so far, the impact of storm No. 3 and floods has damaged 312,000 hectares of crops. Of which, an estimated 200,000 hectares of rice were damaged by over 70%, 15,000 hectares were damaged by 30-70%; 51,000 hectares of vegetables were damaged (of which 36,000 were corn); 61,000 hectares of fruit trees and industrial crops were damaged…
Regarding the damaged area, Ms. Huong recommended that for rice, farmers should take the opportunity to clean the fields and drain water to prepare for early winter crop planting, prioritizing leafy vegetables and short-term vegetables. For vegetables, farmers should proactively check, drain water promptly, clean the fields, and proactively prepare vegetable seed soil to replant in areas that cannot recover leafy vegetables, short-term vegetables, and water-loving vegetables to provide vegetables in time for the market when the crop is close.
To overcome the above damage, synthesizing the need for seeds to support localities in restoring production, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong said that about 15,000 tons of rice seeds are needed for winter-spring crop planting. For vegetable seeds, about 112.5 tons are needed, and about 1,080 tons of corn seeds are needed for the next winter crop. Meanwhile, the amount of seeds in the national reserve is only small, such as rice seeds suitable for the northern provinces are only more than 4,100 tons, vegetable seeds are 250kg, corn seeds are 275.4 tons.
In response to the above demand for seeds, the Department of Crop Production has sent a document to associations, unions, enterprises producing and trading in plant varieties and academies, institutes and universities about preparing agricultural plant varieties to serve production in the northern provinces. Accordingly, the units will consider and proactively support plant varieties for farmers in localities greatly affected by storms and floods.
The Department of Crop Production also requested that plant variety production and trading units not increase the selling price of plant varieties during this time to help farmers in stormy areas reduce difficulties, overcome production to soon stabilize their lives.
MANY ENTERPRISES COMMIT TO SUPPORT FARMERS
Sharing at the conference, Mr. Tran Manh Bao, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thai Binh Seed Corporation (ThaiBinh Seed), and Chairman of the Vietnam Seed Trade Association, said that the damage caused by storm No. 3 is incalculable and very painful.
To help people restore production and life, ThaiBinh Seed will support 30 tons of corn seeds, 20 tons of rice seeds (equivalent to 3 billion VND) and will give them directly to people through the allocation of the Ministry.
Representative of Bayer Vietnam Company, Mr. Nguyen Truong Vuong said that the company decided to support 20 tons of corn seeds (equivalent to 2.4 billion VND) for people in Yen Bai, Lao Cai, and Phu Tho provinces. In the coming time, the company also has a policy of importing vegetable seeds to continue supporting people at the most preferential prices.
Updated to 11:00 on September 18, 18 enterprises, associations… have supported seedlings, fertilizers, agricultural materials… and cash worth 15.2 billion VND. Typically, Vietnam Seed Corporation, Thaibinh Seed Corporation, and Binh Dien Fertilizer Corporation donated seeds, materials, and fertilizers worth VND3 billion each. Vietnam Joint Stock Company pledged to support farmers in Yen Bai, Cao Bang, and Lao Cai provinces with corn seeds and VND1.2 billion in cash.
Concluding the conference, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung said that the damage after storm No. 3 was very large and severe, so the support of the business community and associations was needed. However, localities also need to clearly identify what people need, not just give whatever we have to people.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is also coordinating with localities to clearly understand the actual needs of each locality and the needs of the people. If it is a variety, what kind of variety, what kind of materials… On that basis, the Ministry will make a list so that businesses can distribute it directly with the goal of money and goods reaching people in the most practical and effective way.
“The Ministry has also assigned the Department of Crop Production to fully compile statistics, record and express gratitude for the contributions of businesses, then make specific plans for each locality, balance according to the needs of each locality and invite businesses to join the Ministry to give gifts to support each locality”, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung emphasized.
