Rice seedlings may still be saved. Five affected farmers: If the water recedes quickly, the terrain | water level | farmers
On the morning of August 6th, most of the rice paddies in Lexiang, a resident of Wuchang, Heilongjiang Province, which were submerged by floods, began to decline as the water level began to decline. Some rice growing in high terrain areas had slowly emerged from the water, while others were still completely submerged in the water.
Affected by the passage of Typhoon Dussuri, the rainfall in Wuchang City has exceeded 100 millimeters for several consecutive days since August 2nd. The heavy rainfall caused large and medium-sized reservoirs and rivers in Wuchang to exceed the flood limit water level, and many villages along the river in Wuchang City were flooded. On August 4th, villagers of Hongqi Village in Yingchengzi Township, Wuchang City received another government notice that the water level of the Mangniu River has risen and must be transferred as soon as possible.
The flood is approaching step by step, and some villagers are driving valuable agricultural machinery and putting on simple clothes and belongings; Some tractors are filled with fertilizer feed, and villagers pull cows that cannot walk too far to a small hill outside the village and tie them to trees
What cannot be taken away are the house and rice. Wuchang is the "hometown of rice" in China. Wuchang rice is well-known far and wide, and the main crop grown in the local rice fields is the rice variety Daohuaxiang 2, which has high nutritional value and a soft and sticky taste.
Mangniu River is a secondary tributary on the right bank of Songhua River, located in Wuchang City, and flows into Lalin River near Beiyin River Town. Hongqi Village is located in the middle reaches of the Mangniu River, and many rice fields around it are nourished and irrigated by this river water.
Ten years ago, Liu Xiaoli, the founder of Wuchang Nengmin Rice Industry Co., Ltd., built a rice processing plant in Lanqi Village, Beiyinhe Town, adjacent to Hongqi Village. A portion of the rice field orders signed by the factory came from Hongqi Village. Before the flood arrived, she also went to the rice fields in Hongqi Village. The rice seedlings that had just sprouted were standing tall, and Liu Xiaoli picked one by hand. Unexpectedly, the next day, the rice fields were submerged in water.
Many villagers did not expect that the flood that came at night was larger than in previous years. The old man in the village said, "This is the first time in my life.". In previous years, there were also notices requesting personnel transfer during the rainy season, but because there was not much damage caused before, the villagers did not take it to heart.
But this time we can't underestimate the enemy. The local government has arranged resettlement sites, and most villagers choose to seek refuge with their relatives and friends. Some elderly people are reluctant to leave their homes and drive to the intersection several hundred meters away, occasionally standing high to watch the flood. If they are really tired, they take a nap in the car.
At noon on August 5th, there was occasional rain, and some villagers had not yet left. Across a road over 10 meters wide, Liu Xiaoli looked at the villagers of Hongqi Village standing on the roadside and felt worried. Some of them had contracted hundreds of acres of land, some had insured rice, and some had not.
Four villages in Zhenxing Village, Minle Township also entered the water in the early morning of August 5th. Earlier, other villages in the village also began to relocate.
"We are the last group to be transferred." On the late night of August 3rd, Yu Dianhong, the secretary of the Zhenxing Village Party Branch, received a call from the township government requesting that all village personnel be transferred. In the rain, village officials went door-to-door to wake up the sleeping villagers and moved overnight. But there are still villagers who are worried about their livestock and secretly run home to feed pigs, causing village officials to wander around anxiously. The village officials borrowed a kayak to enter the village before taking the people out.
Some farmers in Hongqi Village are also worried about their chickens, ducks, pigs, and dogs at home. Taking advantage of the cessation of rain, they want to take risks and go back. Some villagers keep talking about the rice in the fields and the livestock at home, while others are grateful that everyone has safely withdrawn.
Liu Xiaoli has employees from Hongqi Village in her factory. On the morning of August 5th, she heard that some employees had their 60cm high kang submerged in water. She was worried about everyone's situation and wanted the employees to live in the factory office building.
Although the company purchases rice variety Daohuaxiang 2 every year, she did not immediately estimate the impact of the flood on the company's orders. "If there is a shortage of rice variety Daohuaxiang 2 this year, we will process some other varieties of rice to ensure the supply of rice in the market." She told reporters that the company itself sells different varieties of rice, so she is not worried about affecting her income.
Many villagers are prepared for a reduction in rice production this year. They know that at this time of the disaster, the rate of water level decline determines whether there will be a harvest. "Some rice has sprouted, some have just entered the flowering stage, but they have not yet filled. If the water can go down in two or three days, there is still a possibility for the rice seedlings to continue growing." A villager surnamed Liu told a reporter from Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing Net. On the morning of August 6th, she took a risk and ran to the vicinity of the rice field to check. The water level dropped a bit, but the seedlings in her own field have not yet emerged. "If the water level drops tonight, the rice seedlings will still be saved.".
Yu Dianhong is also constantly monitoring the water level. On the day of August 5th, he drove back to the vicinity of Zhenxing Village to take a look, and the muddy path was already filled with water. In the afternoon, some rice fields on both sides of the road began to be flooded. But on the morning of the 6th, at the same location, the water level in some rice fields significantly receded, and the rice had already exposed some heads. "As long as the water goes down these two days, the rice ears will no longer be wet, and they can still grow normally." Yu Dianhong suddenly felt hopeful.
"The final yield and quality of rice depend on the grains on the rice panicles, and the growth and development of these grains cannot be separated from healthy leaves." Wang Jingguo, Vice Dean of the School of Agriculture at Northeast Agricultural University, has also been paying attention to the flood situation in Wuchang, and his judgment is similar to that of farmers: if the accumulated water within one or two days can be discharged as soon as possible, it will not have a significant impact on rice growth, but this impact will increase with the increase of accumulated water time and depth.
He told reporters that floods may bring huge kinetic energy and sediment, causing rice lodging or affecting later photosynthesis. The retreat of floods may be accompanied by the loss of fertilizers and changes in soil structure, which will have an impact on the growth of rice in the later stage. "The most urgent thing now is to quickly discharge the accumulated water, and then create favorable environmental conditions for rice growth and development through cultivation measures."
On the afternoon of August 6th, Yu Dianhong saw that the depth of the accumulated water outside the village was lower than that inside the village. He quickly called for someone to open the two flood gates at the middle end of the village drainage channel, accelerate the speed of water discharge, and "let our rice surface as early as possible.".
