Drought causes loss of 4 million USD in Khanh Hoa

A farmer in Khanh Hoa showing his rice field suffering from drought. (Source: VNA)

Khanh Hoa (VNA) – Drought from the beginning of 2016 has inflicted a loss of 90 billion VND (4 million USD) to the agricultural sector of the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

According to the province’s steering committee on disaster prevention and rescue, the scarcity of rain from the beginning of this year greatly reduced the water level at the Da Ban reservoir to 20 percent of its designed volume, leading to 1,400 hectares deprived of water and damage of 54 billion VND (2.4 million USD).

The affected areas mainly lies in the western part of Ninh Hoa town like Ninh Son, Ninh An and Ninh Than. Besides this, 1,150 hectares of fruit and commercial trees were damaged, with an estimated loss of 33 billion VND.

From the beginning of 2016, precipitation in Khanh Hoa has been only 10mm, far below previous years’ average levels of 30-60mm.

The water level in rivers has also dropped by 89 percent in comparison with the average levels of many years, and 49 percent against last year.

The local reservoirs’ total current volume is 117 million cu.m or 47 percent of their design capacity.

Hot weather will continue over the next months, further reducing 90-95 percent of water volume in rivers, against the average figure of many years.

The provincial People’s Committee has instructed localities to prioritise the supply of water to daily activities and industrial production and guide locals to shift towards other crops to conserve water.

In 2016, the province recommended the government provide it with 66 billion VND (2.9 million USD) to fight drought, 10 billion VND to supply clean drinking water and 2,000 tonnes of rice to give to needy households.

The locality will allocate rice for 44,500 individuals during the third quarter of this year, each with 15 kilogrammes per month.-VNA