Rice fields in Hung Yen Province die prematurely The rice fields in Van Lam district in Hung Yen province have suddenly turned yellow and withered. Local farmers believe the paddy fields died because of polluted water.   The paddy fields in Chi Dao commune that are dying are all irrigated with water from the C5 canal. Dinh Thi Chan, a farmer in Dong Mai hamlet, complained that more than 3,600 square meters of her rice fields had died, affirming that rice had been harmed by polluted water. “My rice fields are irrigated with the water from C5, while waste water from production workshops also goes to C5,” she said. The water in the rice fields in Cong Minh and Khe Sanh areas is black and has a bad odor, which causes nausea. Some farmers said that their feet felt numb, and that rashes developed after working in the rice fields. Dead paddy was discovered in the winter-spring crop, but just on a small scale, which only hurt four to five households. This was attributed to waste water from a nearby duck farm. However, since August 10, most of the paddy has died. Le Viet Duan in Dong Mai hamlet complained that he lost 2.5 sao of the winter-spring crop (1 sao = 360 square meters) and has lost another 8.5 sao more. “You see, all the rice fields here are getting yellow as if they are irrigated with herbicide,” Duan said. Trinh Dinh Buong, an old farmer, affirmed that the paddy did not die because of pesticide. “We have been spraying rice with pesticide for many years and nothing has happened. It is now the polluted water from the canal which is killing the rice,” Buong said. Pointing to the fish ponds, Buong said not only rice but fish have also died because of the dirty water. Locals have every reason to think that the C5 canal is polluted by waste water from a workshop of Tuan Cuong Company, a pack manufacturer, because this is the only enterprise in the area. According to Le Van Le, deputy chair of Chi Dao Commune, at least 2.3 hectares of paddy field have died, while the damaged area is expected to increase in the future because of dirty water. However, the local authorities cannot help farmers find out if Tuan Cuong’s workshop is the culprit, because the workshop is located in Minh Hai commune. Tuan Cuong was established as a packaging company, but it shifted to make plastics in 2005. According to Minh Hai commune chair Nguyen Duc Hung, chemicals might come from the company’s plastic crates. Thien Nhien, VNN