Agricultural departments actively carry out flood control and disaster relief work to ensure a safe flood season

Report from our website  Since May, heavy rainfall has occurred frequently in southern China. Cumulative precipitation in southern Hunan, eastern Jiangxi, northeastern Guangxi, most of Guangdong and western Fujian reached 400-700 mm, 50 percent to 4 times more than the same period in normal years. Parts of 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in southern China have been hit by floods.

In response to the heavy rainfall disaster in the south, the Ministry of Agriculture attached great importance to the situation and issued two emergency notices to deploy heavy rainfall defense work, requiring all localities to effectively carry out flood control, flood fighting and production self-rescue, and to make every effort to ensure agricultural production safety. At the same time, it dispatched 3 supervision groups led by department and bureau-level officials and expert guidance groups to 5 provinces including Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guizhou to investigate agricultural disaster conditions and supervise and guide disaster relief and agricultural production recovery. The supervision groups went deep into severely affected cities and counties, inspected disaster conditions on the ground, learned about the progress of disaster relief, guided post-disaster production recovery work, and worked with local agricultural departments to study measures for agricultural production recovery.

Facing the current severe situation of agricultural flood control and disaster relief, all provinces have strengthened disaster monitoring and early warning, responded scientifically, vigorously implemented measures, and quickly carried out disaster relief and production self-rescue to effectively reduce disaster impacts and losses.

First, arrangements and deployments were rapid. All provinces issued notices in a timely manner, actively responded to the impact of heavy rainfall weather, earnestly implemented disaster prevention and relief responsibilities, and effectively implemented flood control and disaster relief measures to ensure the smooth progress of summer harvest and spring and summer sowing. Guangdong and Jiangxi conducted consultations and assessments in advance, prepositioned emergency rescue forces, and ensured timely disaster relief. Cities such as Chenzhou in Hunan launched a Level IV disaster relief emergency response. Hubei Province launched its flood control and drought relief emergency plan in April and entered a state of actual flood control operations.

Second, disaster relief measures were effective. May is the maturity and harvest period for wheat and rapeseed in southern China. All provinces actively organized officials and agricultural technicians to go to the front lines, investigate and understand disaster conditions, help farmers promptly drain water and reduce waterlogging, and seize breaks in rainfall to harvest wheat and rapeseed at full speed. Hubei Province organized more than 3,900 mechanical harvesting teams in succession, harvesting more than 3.3 million mu of wheat and more than 2 million mu of rapeseed. Jiangxi Province also formed official service teams to help the public harvest rapeseed and other mature crops.

Third, production recovery was timely. Through measures such as converting early rice to middle rice, supplementary seedling cultivation or seedling adjustment, all localities organized farmers to rush to transplant seedlings and replant seedlings in a timely manner. For damaged vegetable greenhouses, methods such as changing crops and replanting late-maturing varieties were adopted to reduce economic losses from vegetable greenhouses. Hunan promptly allocated 5 million yuan in provincial disaster relief emergency funds and stored 10 million kg of improved disaster relief seeds such as rice and corn, and promptly organized farmers to change crops and replant. Hubei Province rushed to transplant more than 2 million mu of middle rice, replanted 630,000 mu of various crops, and raised more than 9 million yuan to repair more than 2,300 seedling-raising and vegetable greenhouses. Jiangxi, following the principle of replanting where appropriate and changing crops where appropriate, urgently allocated 200,000 jin of rice disaster relief seeds for changing crops and replanting in affected farmland.

Fourth, guidance and services were in place. All localities actively organized agricultural departments, township officials and agricultural technicians to go village by village and household by household to carry out technical guidance for production self-rescue and promote the normal growth of crops in the fields. Agricultural departments at all levels in Hunan dispatched more than 30 work groups and organized more than 500 agricultural technicians to go deep into disaster areas to guide production. Fujian organized experts and agricultural technicians to cover counties, townships and village groups, and stay close to the production front lines to grasp self-rescue. Guangxi organized agricultural technicians to go deep into disaster areas and carry out classified guidance according to the degree of crop damage, helping farmers implement measures such as replanting and clearing seedlings, cultivating and loosening soil, and topdressing fertilizer to promote crop recovery and growth.

The China Meteorological Administration forecasts that in June, precipitation in southern Jiangnan and most of South China will be 20-50 percent above normal, and the task of agricultural flood control and disaster relief will be heavy. The Ministry of Agriculture will base itself on fighting disasters to secure a harvest, effectively carry out flood disaster defense, ensure a safe flood season and agricultural production safety, and lay a good foundation for the stable development of grain production for the whole year.

First, strengthen disaster monitoring and early warning. Strengthen information linkage with meteorological, water conservancy and other departments, pay close attention to the dynamics of disastrous weather, and issue early warning information in a timely manner. Implement the 24-hour duty system, do a good job in agricultural disaster early warning and prevention, promptly launch emergency plans for major disasters, and organize officials and the public to carry out flood control, disaster relief and production self-rescue.

Second, strengthen management of crops in the fields. Do a good job in managing crops in the fields such as corn, early rice and middle rice, actively organize the implementation of management measures such as topdressing fertilizer to promote seedling growth, and promote the improvement of damaged crop seedlings. Strengthen pest and disease monitoring, carry out prevention and control in a timely manner, and ensure the normal growth and development of crops in the fields.

Third, strengthen technical guidance services. According to disaster development trends and crop growth and development characteristics, organize experts to promptly formulate technical opinions, go deep into fields to strengthen classified guidance, and ensure that all disaster prevention and relief measures are implemented in the fields.