Drought, Salinity Cause $210M Losses to Mekong Delta

Vietnam's Mekong Delta has suffered losses worth more than VND4.7 trillion ($210 million) due to the severe and prolonged drought and saltwater intrusion during dry season, said the Southwest Region Steering Committee. More than 221,000 hectares of rice, 6,500 ha of vegetables and 26,500 ha of fruits and cash trees were affected, said the committee. Paddy grown on 128,205 ha was also completely destroyed, it added. The drought and saltwater intrusion also caused a freshwater shortage for 225,000 households in the coastal provinces of Ben Tre, Soc Trang and Kien Giang. Rains have now arrived in the delta and farmers are growing new vegetable crops, sowing the autumn-winter rice crop and farming shrimp again. Farmers are set to grow only 860,000 ha of rice in the autumn-winter crop, down from the original plan of 900,300 ha, according to the Crop Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It is now the peak harvest season for the summer-autumn rice, but with unusually heavy rains and winds battering paddies and affecting the quality of the grain, farmers have difficulty finding buyers. In Hau Giang, Kien Giang, Vinh Long and An Giang provinces, heavy rains and strong wings have flattened thousands of hectares of paddies. Farmers whose fields were affected are likely to earn only around VND10 million per hectare, down by nearly half compared to those not affected, according to local agriculture authorities. Farmers have to harvest flattened fields by hand since machines cannot be used on them, and traders are reluctant to buy from such fields. The Mekong Delta is the biggest rice growing areas and the largest aquatic pond in the country. It has also big gardens cultivating delicious exotic tropical fruits. (Nong Nghiep Vietnam – Vietnam Agriculture June 29)