Torrential downpours have inundated and damaged over 500 hectares of paddy fields over the past few days against the backdrop of the harvest season in Ca Mau Province, southern Vietnam, said a local agriculture official on Saturday.

Rice plants in low-lying areas were heavily flooded and battered due to whirlwinds, making life tougher for local farmers to harvest the crops, according to Do Van Su, head of the agriculture and rural development division in the province’s Tran Van Thoi District.

Khanh Binh Tay Bac Commune was the hardest-hit area in the district, with over 400 hectares affected.

Damage could rise further if it continues to rain over the next few days, the local official said.

Authorities operated pumps to drain the flooded rice fields, he added.

Dinh Van Khoi, a farmer in the district, said he had expected a bumper harvest as rice prices are on the rise, but flooding caused by heavy rains shattered his hopes.

Traders also reduced the buying price by nearly VND2,000 (US$0.08) per kilogram, the farmer elaborated.

With over 25,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice fields, Tran Van Thoi is the largest rice farming region in this southernmost province.

The district has over 190 harvesters that meet the demand for harvesting rice, but local farmers have had to hire workers for manual reaping and suffered cost overruns because rice harvesters were unable to enter heavily-flooded areas.

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