The golden season

According to statistics from the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of Quang Dien District, as of June 18, more than 2,377 hectares of rice and vegetables in the district remain submerged due to the impact of the recent floods.

On the afternoon of June 13, Hue City Military Command and relevant units mobilized 200 soldiers to Thuy Tan commune (Huong Thuy town) to help local people harvest nearly 90 hectares of off-season rice that had been flooded due to the impact of Storm No.1.

While not as famous as the Sonneratia forest in Cu Lao Dung (Soc Trang), the Sonneratia forest along the Lam River in Nghe An, or the one in Cu Lao Bac Phuoc (Quang Tri), etc., the Sonneratia trees along the coastal areas of Hue City are nevertheless taking root deeply in the mud and soil of the land every day.

On the 10-acre field of red chiem rice (a traditional red rice grown in brackish lowlands of Hue City, sown by April and harvested by July), each planting season requires 40 to 50 hired laborers, and the harvest stretches over several days. Left untended and unfertilized, the rice grows naturally under the generous sun and rain. Some call it “heaven’s rice” — a variety grown from the grace of Tam Giang’s waters.

For those living near the Tam Giang Lagoon, it is common to experience several floods each year. While flood season provokes anxieties over the safety of lives and property, it also allows fishermen to increase their income because the rising water brings an abundance of economically valuable aquatic species.