Unique delicious rice variety in flood season, the more flooded the higher the yield in An Giang

This is a unique rice variety, during the entire cultivation process there is no need to fertilize, spray pesticides, or weed. When the rice is ripe, people only need to go to the fields to harvest, the selling price is twice as high as that of normal high-yield rice.

Taking advantage of the 5-6 month long flood season, people on Phuoc Islet living along My Luong River, My An Commune, Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, grow floating rice.

Floating rice flowers produce large, round grains. (Photo: Thanh Sang/VNA).

With nearly 1 hectare of floating rice growing along the My Luong River, Mr. Nguyen Van Tam, My Loi Hamlet, My An Commune, Cho Moi District, is one of many households on Phuoc Islet with over 20 years of experience growing floating rice. The rice variety Mr. Tam grows is the Nang Tay Dum variety, which produces soft, fragrant rice and can be stored through the seasons.

Following the dike to visit the golden rice fields ready for harvest, Mr. Tam said that every year from the end of June when the flood water on the Mekong River begins to flow into the Mekong Delta, his family is busy preparing the land and planting floating rice. This is a rice variety with a very unique biological mechanism, rich in nutrients, and living "in harmony with nature".

'When the floodwaters come, many fields along the river are submerged in water. If floating rice is not grown, the fields will be abandoned. Floating rice has a unique biological mechanism, growing along the flood level, absorbing alluvium to grow. Thanks to that, the rice plants do not need the intervention of fertilizers or pesticides. Farmers only need to spend time planting and harvesting, helping people reduce costs and have more income,' Mr. Tam shared.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tam (My Loi Hamlet, My An Commune, Cho Moi District, An Giang Province) with floating rice plants over 2m high, ready to harvest. (Photo: Thanh Sang/VNA)

With many years of experience growing floating rice, Mr. Tam revealed that in years when the flood waters are high and the fields are deeply submerged in water, the rice plants will grow tall, some over 2m tall; the rice will bloom profusely, producing large, round grains and high yields. In years when the flood waters are small, the rice will be low, the rice will produce small grains and yields are lower.

Floating rice has a growing period of 6 months or longer depending on the time of sowing. From November to December, when the flood water from the fields recedes into the river, the rice stalks fall to the ground, the rice flowers and ripens.

Floating season rice has a reddish color and is delicious, so after harvesting, people save it to eat all year round, and only sell any leftovers. Because the rice is clean, traders buy it for twice the price of regular rice.

This year, due to the high floods, many households on Phuoc Islet had a good floating rice crop, with a yield of about 2 tons/ha. Currently, traders are buying floating rice at a fairly high price of 16,000-17,000 VND/kg, twice as high as the price of regular rice. After deducting all costs, farmers earn a profit of over 20 million VND/ha.

After the floating rice crop is harvested and the flood water recedes from the fields, people use clean straw as fertilizer to plant soybeans, baby corn, vegetables, chili, squash. which have a very good harvest.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Giang, floating rice in the province is mainly grown in the two districts of Tri Ton and Cho Moi with a total area of ​​about 76 hectares. Because the area for growing floating rice is still quite modest, largely dependent on the flood season, floating rice products are not widely sold in the market.

In the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta, floating rice was widely grown from the 1980s to the 1990s during the flood season. Later, when most localities built dyke systems to prevent floods, farmers chose high-yield rice varieties to cultivate in the third crop, so the area of ​​floating rice was reduced. Since then, the quality and yield of floating rice have decreased sharply due to the degradation of genetic resources.

With the goal of preserving and enhancing the value of floating rice in the Mekong Delta, Master Le Thanh Phong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Climate Change, An Giang University, has collected, researched, crossbred and produced many new floating rice varieties, helping farmers increase their income during the flood season.

According to Master Le Thanh Phong, currently the Institute of Climate Change, An Giang University, in addition to preserving 300 varieties of floating rice, has also successfully researched two typical floating rice varieties of Vietnam, Huong Lai and Nang Tay Dum, for clean, soft, fragrant rice.

After 5 pilot crops, the hybrid rice variety meets market demand, has the potential to be widely replicated, and increases farmers' income.

Master Le Thanh Phong said that due to the impact of climate change, the Institute of Climate Change is currently researching a floating rice variety that can be grown in low or no flood conditions.

At the same time, the institute is also ready to help people mass produce during the flood season the rice varieties that are being preserved such as Nang Pha, Nang Tay Dum, Tau Binh, Chech Cut, Nang Choi, Nang Chi, Bong Sen, Huong Lai.