Vast rice fields in the central region are suffering from serious drought and the losses are estimated to reach 2.5 trillion VND.

In Nghe An province, farmers cannot grow rice on more than 26,000 ha due to the shortage of water.

The scorching heat has dried out many major reservoirs in Nghe An, some losing as much as 60-70 percent of their water.

Local people in mountainous areas of the province have also grappled with a severe shortage of water for daily use.

Similar to Nghe An province, Ha Tinh province has also reported that 14,000 ha of paddy fields are affected.

Ha Tinh predicts that its rice paddies will be devastated if rain does not come in July.

The province plans to grow rice on 41,000 ha and subsidiary crops on another 17,000 ha, however, it fears that the lack of water will restrict this.

At least 120,000 people in Huong Khe and Huong Son districts are struggling with insufficient water supplies and tankers have been deployed to transport water from Ke Go reservoir to them.

The Central Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre predicts that the drought could be worse in July as it has seen no sign of upcoming torrential rain.

If rain does not come very soon, the amount of agricultural land affected by the drought in the central region has risen to 71,000 ha of summer-autumn rice crop out of 240,000 ha, according to the Irrigation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

One June 25, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development met with these central provinces to look at ways of addressing the situation, saying that the Government will provide assistance to help these localities deal with the drought./.