Xinhua News Agency reporter visits Wuchang Farmland on site to see crop failure | Rice | Reporter

Xinhua News Agency, Harbin, August 10th - Question: Xinhua News Agency reporter's on-site visit to Wuchang farmland

Xinhua News Agency's "Xinhua Perspective" reporters Guan Jiantao, Yang Siqi, Zhang Tao, and Wang He

Wuchang City is located in the southern part of Heilongjiang Province, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with fertile soil and sufficient sunlight. It is a well-known high-quality rice production area in China. Since August 2nd, the local area has been affected by Typhoon Dussuri, experiencing continuous heavy rainfall and severe flooding. How is the disaster situation in the city? What is the impact on Wuchang rice? Xinhua Vision reporters conducted on-site visits.

It is reported that the areas severely affected by the disaster in Wuchang City are mainly along the Lalin River and Mangniu River basins.

On the afternoon of the 9th, the reporter saw obvious signs of waterlogging on rice leaves in a paddy field located in Xingye Village, Anjia Town, Wuchang City, next to the Jihei Highway. A small amount of rice fields in the distance were still covered by standing water.

An agricultural cadre in Wuchang City said, "A few days ago, when there was a lot of water, the roads were already flooded, and these rice plants were all submerged. In areas with a depth of more than two meters, most of the rice fields have now receded."

On the 10th, the reporter learned from the Flood Control and Drought Relief Command of Wuchang City, Heilongjiang Province that preliminary statistics show that the rice planting area in Wuchang City is about 2.5 million mu, of which more than 1 million mu have been affected to varying degrees.

"The flooded land this year is mainly concentrated along the banks of several major rivers, and the affected areas are part of it. Large areas of rice are still growing normally." Li Yanjun, the director of the Plant Protection Station of the Wuchang Agricultural Technology Promotion Center, said that areas severely affected by the disaster may experience crop failure, while areas less affected may have less impact.

Li Yanjun introduced that soaking rice in floods, commonly known as "over water", has different effects on rice due to different over water intensities and soaking times. It can be roughly divided into three types: some are severely affected by disasters, soaking for a long time, and may go out of production; Some rice leaves and ears are soaked in floods, causing sediment to settle and affecting pollination; Some waters have a shorter soaking time, which has a smaller impact on yield.

It is understood that the impact of this flood on the rice yield in Wuchang is currently being evaluated.

On the afternoon of the 10th, the reporter arrived at an agricultural joint-stock company located in Banjiaohezi Village, Dujia Town, Wuchang City. The rice fields here are lush and the rice stems are straight. "A few days ago, it rained heavily and the accumulated water in the rice fields quickly subsided without forming any water, which had little impact on the rice," said the person in charge of the company.

"Overflowing water is like catching a cold, some have collapsed, some have recovered, and some are still in the process of recovery." An agricultural expert in Wuchang City said that overflowing water does not mean crop failure. Flooding disasters can lead to reduced rice production, but it does not mean crop failure. The final yield will be determined after the autumn harvest.

Dong Mingliang, Chairman of the New Origin Rice Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative in Wuchang City, is from Tiexi Village, Anjia Town. This year, the cooperative has cultivated over 2600 acres of paddy fields, with a drainage area of 450 acres. "The Lalin River was flooded for a day and a half, and then the water receded, which had little impact on the later stage of rice heading and filling. It is expected to reduce production by about 10%," Dong Mingliang told reporters.

In recent days, Wuchang City has actively carried out disaster reduction and self rescue, as well as agricultural production recovery. The Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Wuchang City has formulated "Technical Opinions on Post Flood Farmland Management" and "Flood Season Animal Husbandry Technology", and established six post disaster technical guidance groups to go deep into towns and villages, guiding farmers to carry out disaster prevention and reduction work from aspects such as rushing to drain field water, spraying foliar fertilizer, clearing alluvial deposits, scientifically preventing and controlling diseases and pests, and strengthening field management.

The local government is making every effort to drain the accumulated water in the fields and reduce the soaking time of crops in the water. Adopt dredging measures such as deep excavation and expansion, dredging and obstacle removal, fully leverage the role of drainage engineering, and accelerate the progress of downstream drainage; For those without field drainage projects, dig drainage ditches and puddles according to the direction of water flow; For those who do not have the conditions for trenching, water pumps will be installed and temporary pumping stations will be set up to quickly remove accumulated water from farmland. Currently, 420000 acres of accumulated water in the fields have been urgently drained.

Zhang Jinfu, Director of the Agricultural Technology Promotion Center in Wuchang City, introduced that technical guidance services are carried out according to different regions, varieties, and disaster situations, to scientifically promote post disaster recovery of agricultural production. Strengthen field management, spray foliar fertilizer, remove pond ridges and older weeds in the field, and promote crop maturity.

"The planting area of rice fragrance varieties accounts for about 90% of the total rice area in the city," said Wang Shouxin, Director of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Wuchang City. Currently, rice is in the heading and flowering period, and the local government is organizing careful management and protection to address the potential adverse effects of floods on rice growth.

According to statistics from the agricultural and rural departments of Wuchang City, the total area of agricultural insurance coverage for arable land in the city is 3.27 million mu, accounting for approximately 70% of the total arable land area.

"We promptly contacted the village coordinators and farmers to understand the relevant situation, introduced the basic information of the survey and the agricultural insurance claim process to the farmers." Zhang Qiang, the agricultural insurance customer manager of China Ping An Property Insurance Co., Ltd. Wuchang Branch Company, introduced that before the arrival of abnormal weather, the company promptly issued warnings to various townships and villages. After a disaster occurs, the company promptly conducts surveys through satellite positioning and other technologies, uses drones to take aerial photos of the affected areas, and verifies and registers the disaster situation.

The interviewed grassroots cadres hope that relevant insurance companies can quickly promote disaster investigation, accelerate the declaration, verification, review, and reporting of disaster losses, conduct comprehensive verification and registration of the disaster situation, and strive to be truthful and unified.