Floods cause rice to sprout like bean sprouts, causing damage to the rice industry of 3,000 billion VND.

Floods cause rice to sprout like bean sprouts - Photo: Department of Crop Production

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung shared this at a conference to support the recovery of crop production after storms and floods in northern provinces and cities organized by the ministry on the morning of September 18.

More than 100,000 hectares of rice and crops were lost.

According to Mr. Trung, storm No. 3 caused very heavy damage to the northern provinces, including the agricultural sector.

In the crop sector alone, up to now, about 312,000 hectares have been flooded, collapsed, and suffered very heavy damage, with an estimated loss of more than 100,000 hectares.

If calculating the monetary damage, about 200,000 hectares of rice alone were flooded, losing about 3,000 billion VND, and crops and fruit trees were estimated at about 1,250 billion VND. Currently, localities are still continuing to count and review the damage situation.

"According to the assessment of the Ministry of Planning and Investment , storm No. 3 could reduce the GDP growth rate for the whole year by about 0.15%, and the agricultural sector alone by 0.33%, a very large decrease ever and this is a huge loss for farmers," said Mr. Trung.

Mr. Trung said that immediately after the storm, under the direction of the Prime Minister, the ministry issued timely directives to guide localities in having technical solutions to recover immediately after the storm and floods.

The Ministry also organized delegations to go to localities to guide, overcome and re-evaluate the damage caused by storm No. 3.

"It's very painful and heartbreaking. Many areas are flooded up to the top of banana trees. Many areas growing ornamental plants and fruit trees worth billions of dong are flooded. There are rice fields that are ready to be harvested but haven't been harvested yet. The flooding has caused the rice to sprout like bean sprouts," said Mr. Trung.

Mr. Trung also said that last Monday, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan held a meeting and directed deputy ministers and relevant sectors to be proactive with the highest spirit and join hands to help people in localities overcome the consequences.

Therefore, today the Ministry organizes a conference with the spirit of mutual love, helping each other and sharing support in many different forms, be it spiritual, material, or best practice initiatives to support people to restore production and soon stabilize their lives.

Associations and businesses support the agricultural sector to restore cultivation - Photo: C.TUỆ

15,000 tons of rice seeds are needed for the winter-spring crop.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production, said that the unit has preliminarily compiled the demand for varieties that localities need to restore production.

Regarding rice varieties, it is estimated that about 200,000 hectares of rice were damaged by over 70%, 15,000 hectares were damaged by 30-70%, so about 15,000 tons of rice seeds are needed for winter-spring crop. About 110 tons of vegetable varieties are needed, and about 1,000 tons of corn are needed for next winter crop production.

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 250 kg, and corn seeds are 257 tons.

"Not only rice, corn, and vegetables, but fruit trees were also severely damaged, so we really need sharing and support with input materials to restore the health of the trees," Ms. Huong added.

Mr. Tran Manh Bao, Chairman of Thai Binh Seed Group and Chairman of Vietnam Seed Trade Association, shared that the damage caused by storm No. 3 is incalculable and very painful.

"Every day the news of the damage is getting bigger, but this damage is not today, not 10 days, but will last for a long time. This is something we all have to think about and have the responsibility to share," Mr. Bao said.

According to Mr. Bao, the group's board of directors also discussed what support would be effective, what support the local people need and what would be effective in restoring production and life.

"Yesterday, the group also decided to support 20 tons of rice seeds and 30 tons of corn seeds for the people in the northern mountainous region. In Thai Binh, all employees also supported 1 day's salary.

"For the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, we register the names of the varieties and the quantity. When the ministry allocates any variety and quantity to any locality, we are responsible for delivering it to the place so that it is truly effective for the farmers," said Mr. Bao.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, by the morning of September 18, associations, businesses, companies, organizations, and individuals had donated 14 billion VND (including cash and input materials) to the cultivation sector alone.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ngap-lut-khien-lua-nay-mam-nhu-gia-do-nganh-lua-gao-thiet-hai-3-000-ti-dong-20240918122404367.htm