A coffee-planting area was damaged due to shortage of water (Source: VNA)
Dak Lak (VNA) – A workshop was held in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak on March 29 to discuss measures to prevent drought and promote sustainable development of key industrial crops in the South East and Central Highlands regions.
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh, climate change is seriously affecting regional residents’ daily activities and is taking a toll on agricultural production.
The regions’ key crops of coffee, cashew nuts and peppercorns are facing an increasing risk of water shortage.
Experts say El Nino will continue to last until the middle of 2016. This is the longest El Nino spell recorded in Vietnam.
The workshop heard 40 reports from scientists, managers and representatives from localities, who shared experience in preventing drought and saving water in agriculture production.
Scientist recommended ways to develop sustainable coffee and peppercorn production in the regions.
In 2015, nearly 95,000 hectares of cultivation land in the Central Highlands were hit by drought.
This year, as many as 7,108 ha of rice in the region had to be abandoned, while 40,137 ha of coffee and 2,290 ha of peppercorns have been damaged or have reduced output due to a shortage of water .
If rain does not come in early April, the area of key crops hit by drought will expand to 167,000 ha.-VNA
