Farmers race against weather

Farmers in the northern region of the country are racing against time to sow the last rice seeds for their winter-spring rice crop after a month of crippling cold weather.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, meanwhile, has met to discuss ways to restore agricultural production for 1.2 million ha of winter-spring rice crops after the damaging cold spell.

While low temperatures destroyed a total area of 150,000ha of rice and transplanted rice seedlings, around 10,000ha of transplanted rice seedlings have survived, director of the Ministry's Cultivation Department Nguyen Tri Ngoc said.

The department urged areas with surviving seedlings to classify the plants to aid cultivation. Localities that needed to resow their seedlings should plant between 10-15 per cent more, use short-term hybrid seeds and weed out less cold-resistant seedlings, the department said.

Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong urged local governments to send experts to paddy fields to guide farmers on how to cultivate their crops and protect them from the cold.

The extra work is a worry for farmers, as labourers cost .about VND80,000 (US$5) per day and workers are scarce as many young people have moved to the cities to find jobs.

The department suggested local authorities allow students a day off school when the weather was warm so they could help their families sow the crops.