Localities in the Mekong Delta region are assisting their farmers in
buying more farming and rice harvesting machinery to help them save both
time and labour while increasing rice productivity.
According to agricultural experts, the whole region needs about 20,000
harvester-threshers to collect rice on 1.5 million hectares each crop, a
far cry from the current number of 8,700, which now covers the work on a
half of total rice farming acreage.
In the
meantime, farmers in the region are encountering a shortage of labourers
although they have to pay a hired hand up to 3 – 3.5 million VND for
each hectare of rice.
In the short term, the use of
small-sized machines like mowers and rice plucking machines should be
encouraged as they can easily operate in remote areas and inundated rice
fields.
For a longer run, the State should have a policy on
capital assistance to support local farmers in purchase of farming
machinery.
Agricultural experts suggested localities calling for
private enterprises to invest in harvesting machines to help ease
financial burden for rice growers.-VNA