From early morning, rice fields of Mường Thanh are bustling with the sound of combine harvesters working tirelessly on the fields, and tractors hauling rice along the main roads at full capacity. Local farmers are busy working in groups to harvest, collect, and pack the rice... Laughter and chatter fill the air as they enjoy the fruits of their labor after days of hard work.

This year’s spring rice crop has been a success. The rice in Mường Thanh’s fields is ripening evenly, with high productivity and quality, exceeding previous years. With varieties like Đài Thơm, 97, and Tám Thơm, the yield is about 80 quintals per hectare, while the Séng Cù variety yields from 60 to 70 quintals per hectare.

Phùng Thị Hoa, from Thanh An commune, Điện Biên district, excitedly shared: “Our family has three rice paddies, all with Đài Thơm variety. This year, the weather has been favorable. Despite heavy rainfall when the rice started ripening, the rice didn’t fall over. Harvesting with a combine harvester or by hand was easy, and the yield and quality are better than previous years. Our family’s cultivated area of 2,500 square meters has been harvested, with an estimated yield of 90-95 quintals per hectare, giving us more than two tons of rice.”

Most of the rice fields are now ripe. To speed up the harvest and avoid the impact of extreme weather conditions like heavy rain and strong winds, farmers are taking advantage of sunny days, using machinery to harvest with various methods, including hiring combine harvesters, handheld cutters, and push-type cutting machines.

Phạm Thị Toan, from Noong Hẹt commune, Điện Biên district, said: “Our family has over 2,000 square meters of rice fields, and harvesting has been quite convenient since most of our fields are near the internal roads. Since the beginning of the season, when the rice ripened, we rented a combine harvester at VND 450,000 per 1,000 square meters. Using machinery ensures the process is quick and convenient, saving on labor.”

In addition to large fields where machines can easily access, for fields that are far from the road or small areas not yet harvested, combine harvesters are difficult to use. In these cases, farmers use traditional methods.

Lò Văn Quyết, from Phiêng Ban village, Thanh An commune, shared: “Our family has 2,500 square meters, with an expected yield of 85 quintals per hectare. In addition to harvesting rice, we also want to collect straw for livestock. Therefore, our family harvests by hand, with some areas along the road using push-type rice cutters to save labor.”