A nearly-exhausted canal in Bac Lieu (Source:VNA) Bac Lieu (VNA) – Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu have constructed 460 dams at a cost of over 3 billion VND (130,000 USD) to prevent seawater intrusion for about 46,000 hectares of winter-spring rice crop.
Due to El Nino effects, Bac Lieu is facing drought and seawater intrusion. Saltwater has intruded upstream 30-40 kilometres into the mainland.
So far, about 11,300 hectares of rice and 12,000 hectares of shrimp farming have been damaged.
About 8,600 hectares of winter-spring rice crops are forecast to be badly impacted due to a lack of water.
To deal with the problem, the province has proposed the Government invest in a project worth 650 billion VND (28 million USD) to build 24 salinity-control sewers and a project worth 455 billion VND (19.8 million USD) to upgrade the Cau Sap-Ninh Quoi canal system.
Bac Lieu has also announced a need of over 20 billion VND (870,000 USD) to repair the Ganh Hao sea dyke and another 22.8 billion VND (nearly 1 million USD) to support local farmers who suffered from damaged rice crop.-VNA
