Mekong Delta Faces Serious Droughts, Sea Water Intrusions

The Mekong Delta, the biggest granary in Vietnam, is facing serious droughts and sea water intrusions which have severely affected the local crop cultivation, the Nong Nghiep Vietnam newspaper reported. According to the Southern Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the water in the delta is at the lowest levels for many years while the water flow from the Mekong River upstream has fallen by 20%-40%. Tens of thousands of agricultural land in the delta have been affected by water shortage and salination, the newspaper said. Nguyen Huu Lap, vice chairman of the People’s Committee in Ben Tre province said over 6,500 hectares of rice and vegetables have been affected while authorities in Tien Giang reported heavy losses of rice cultivation of 2,000 ha. Hau Giang has spent additional billions of dongs on pumping and upgrading irrigation system to provide fresh water for thousands of ha of rice land in Vi Thanh and Long My cities. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Long An province has asked the People’s Committee to grant VND53 billion ($2.36 million) for upgrading local irrigation system to deal with droughts and salination to protect 232,000 ha of winter-spring rice. The Crop Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised farmers in the Mekong Delta to early harvest autumn-winter and early sow winter-spring rice to avoid droughts. The ministry has urged the delta to grow other crops on rice land to reduce water consumption. According to the ministry, 30,368 ha of crop land in the southern region have been affected by droughts and sea water intrusion since 2014. Binh Phuoc, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang and Bac Lieu are among the most affected, the ministry said. The Mekong Delta produces around 25 million tons of paddy annually or 56% of the country’s output. (Nong Nghiep Vietnam – Vietnam Agriculture Oct 20)