However, an outstanding issue is that more than 270 hectares of farmland and crops have been completely lost. A week after the flash floods, hundreds of households has yet to clean mud off the village roads. However mud, garbage and even their own accommodation is not their biggest concern at the moment.
"Households near the stream have lost all their property. All their cattle are all gone, and there is nothing left", said Vi Thi Thuong - Quang Kim Commune, Bat Xat, Lao Cai Prov.
Currently the authorities of Lao Cai Province have decided to provide six months of rice for hunger relief to those who have completely lost their crops and fields. But how to reproduce what has been lost, and with what, is what local officials are most worried about.
"Our local major industry is agriculture. We mainly grow rice, so it is difficult to assess plants that have never been planted here before", said Nguyen Van Ngoc - Chairman of the People’s Committee, Quang Kim Commune, Lao Cai Prov.
A delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development led by Minister Nguyễn Xuân Cường have visited the area to give direction to Quang Kim and Phìn Ngan communes.
About the 270 hectares that have been lost, the Minister pledged to direct specialised agencies, in cooperation with the local agricultural sector to restructure and convert plant varieties for local farmers.
"We need to clean up this area as soon as possible, and then concentrate on production to grow crops. Where there is good soil fertility we can grow corn, beans or vegetables so we can harvest them quickly, and places where it is sandy, we can plan beans or peanuts, to renovate the land and create economic improvements", said Nguyen Xuan Cuong - Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The ministry also asked the National Agriculture Extension Center to send officials to help people in accessing scientific methods of cultivating new plant varieties, and quickly stablise the lives of local farmers.
The Minister also emphasized the importance of disaster prevention, especially since the hurricane season has just begun. Local officers should urgently relocate households in the danger areas, construct reinforcements in frequent landslides zones, and most importantly, focus on the weather forecast.
