Dak Lak (VNA) – Water resources in the CentralHighlands will supply enough water to irrigate coffee tree areas in the regionuntil the end of the dry season, according to the Steering Committee forCentral Highlands.
The Central Highland provinces have entered the dryseason but irrigation projects, rivers, streams and wells are holding sufficientwater for irrigating coffee trees, the committee said.
Thanks to rains even prolonged downpours, appearing inthe region in late last year and early this year, local coffee farmers havejust watered coffee trees two times, instead of three or four times like in theprevious years, helping them save more water.
The use of water-efficient irrigation system also helpsthe farmers reduce the amount of water needed to irrigate coffee areas.
Though, the region still lacks a lot of irrigationprojects. The fact could cause great damage to farmers if there would besimilar prolonged droughts in recent years.
In 2016, almost 134,600 hectares of coffee trees inthe region saw reduced outputs due to water shortage, of which nearly 7,900hectares died or did not produce any coffee beans.
The whole region currently has over 2,350 irrigation projects,which ensure water for nearly 19.5 percent of its total coffee areas. Theremaining coffee areas are irrigated by water resources from rivers, streams,and wells.
Dak Lak province, which has the largest area of coffeetrees, has just 770 irrigation works capable of providing water for 52,000hectares while 152,000 hectares are irrigated with water from rivers, streams,and wells.
The Central Highlands region now has 576,800 hectaresof coffee trees, accounting for 89 percent of the country’s total coffee areas.-VNA
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