(VOVWORLD) - The three communes of Buon Triet, Dak Lieng, and Buon Tria in Lak district of Dak Lak province are located along the Krong Ana River. Their thousands of hectares of rice, have long made them the rice bowl of the Central Highlands. It’s harvest time and this year the local farmers are feeling good because they have a bumper crop and good prices.
 Rice sowing and harvesting have been machinized. (Photo: VOV) |
Nguyen Thi Phan of Buon Tung 1 hamlet sowed more than 4 hectares of Dai Thom, a salt-tolerant, high-yield, high-quality fragrant rice variety developed in Vietnam. Traders came to buy her entire crop. Phan estimates her family will earn 6,500 USD from this crop.
“We planted the Dai Thom rice variety with an output of 1.2 tons per 360 square meters. This year the price was a bit higher than last year. Traders bought everything we harvested,” said Phan.
These days, Nguyen Cong Hung and his family members in Me Linh 2 hamlet, are busy harvesting 5 hectares of ST-24 rice.
This year Hung converted nearly 1,800 square meters of rice fields to growing sweet potatos.
He said his happiness has now doubled because he got bumper crops of both sweet potatos and rice, adding that “This year’s crop produced an additional 1.2 to 1.3 tons of unhusked rice per 360 square meters. As soon as we harvested it, we sold it immediately at 29 cents per kilo. Traders came to my house to collect the rice.”
With the largest rice cultivation area in Dak Lak province, Lak district sowed nearly 2,000 hectares of water rice for this winter-spring crop. Favorable weather and a good irrigation system helped the rice grow well and produce average yields of 9 tons per hectare.
 Farmers in Lak district, Dak Lak province have a bumper crop. (Photo: VOV) |
Bui Manh Hai, Chairman of Buon Triet commune’s People’s Committee, said, “The State’s investment in communal roads and in-field roads has made it easier for local people to transport farm produce.”
According to Hai, “Thanks to a combination of traditional farming techniques, applied technology, and helpful advice from agriculture experts, farmers in Buon Triet commune got high yields from several new rice varieties.”
To help locals do sustainable farming, the district’s agriculture sector has organized training courses to teach better techniques, introduce new rice varieties, and share better ways to treat pests and diseases.
The district authority has also helped cooperatives connect with reputable seedling suppliers and agricultural product traders. This has stabilized rice yields and kept prices high.
Along with pepper and coffee, rice is now a stable source of income for the people of Lak district.