Measures sought to minimise drought's impact on rice production

Binh Dinh (VNA) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has called on provinces in the south central coastal and Central Highlands regions to take measures to minimise drought's impact on the Summer-Autumn crops.

Speaking at a conference in the central province of Binh Dinh on March 13, Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh urged localities to review regions and sub-regions to find out water resources that meet rice production.

It is essential to avoid cultivating rice in areas at risk of lacking water, Doanh said.

He suggested shifting to other crops that need less water, and focusing on short-time rice varieties with high yield and pushing the seasonal calendar up to 15 days earlier to take advantage of water sources.

According to the ministry, farmers will face difficulties in the Summer-Autumn crops, as the south central coastal and Central Highlands regions have lower rainfall than that in the previous years.

In such provinces as Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, the water level in many reservoirs reaches only 10-40 percent of the designed capacity.

Meanwhile, in the Central Highlands region, the level is about 62 percent. At present, the region has nearly 350 hectares of crops lacking water. The total area is forecast to reach 25,000-30,000 hectares due to low rainfall.

The MARD proposed cutting down 10,000-47,000 hectares of rice during the Summer-Autumn crops to deal with drought.

According to the ministry, in the Winter-Spring crops 2019-2020, the two regions had over 314,200 hectares of rice with estimated yield of 66.3 tonnes per hectare./.