After harvesting the winter-spring rice crop, farmers in Hoai Nhon, Phu Cat, Tuy Phuoc districts in Binh Dinh province will immediately sow seeds for the summer-fall crop, which is much earlier than previous crops. Rice varieties with shorter growth cycles have also been selected, to avoid any upcoming drought.
Farmers are now planting rice on a rolling basis. Sowing and harvesting are carried out simultaneously. Planting rice this way puts the next crop two weeks ahead of schedule compared to previous years, which is expected to save a considerable volume of irrigation water.
Water levels for irrigation in Binh Dinh province are estimated to adequately supply 43,000 ha of the summer-fall rice crop, meaning that 2,000 ha are likely to be damaged by drought if planting and harvesting are not conducted ahead of the usual schedule./.
