Tanks of water from Sai Gon Water Supply Company are carried to the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre to supply for people who face water shortages due to drought and saline intrusion. (Photo: VNA) Long An (VNA) – The MekongDelta has experienced the most severe drought and saline intrusion ever inthe dry season 2019-2020 but the negative impacts on agricultural productionand daily life were minimised significantly thanks to effective measures, a topofficial has said.
Minister of Agriculture andRural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong made the statement at a meeting held in theMekong Delta province of Long An on June 20 about drought and saline intrusionprevention and control.
He said that thanks to what hadbeen done to fight drought and salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta, Vietnamcould learn good lessons for dealing with the extreme weather in the future.
Cuong applauded the timelyforecasting of salinity intrusion that helped agencies and farmers restructureagricultural production to match available water volume.
The Government, ministries andagencies effectively instructed localities and agencies to develop plans totackle drought, saltwater intrusion and water shortages.
“This year, we identifiedchallenges posed by droughts and saltwater intrusion to the Mekong Deltaearly,” Cuong said, adding that as soon as September 2019, Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc met with leaders of 13 Mekong Delta localities to discuss the issue.
The minister recalled thesaline intrusion in 2016 which was described as the worst in the region in 100years which offered both authorities and people experiences to better deal withthis year’s incidents.
Saline intrusion in 2016 lastedabout two months, and only two communes in Ben Tre province were not affectedwhile this year, the saline intrusion has already lasted five months and thewhole Mekong Delta region has been submerged under water.
Groups of measures were taken,he said, adding that works to store water and prevent saline intrusionwere built and completed on time.
Cultivation areas were zoned,reduced and crops and cultivation times were changed so the areas affectedby drought or saline intrusion was reduced.
The dredging of canals, pondsor wells and the construction of dams, pumping stations to control salineintrusion helped save nearly 400,000 ha of farming land.
Cuong said because people wereequipped with a better understanding of the risks, development and impacts ofsaline intrusion, they became more active in responding and strictly followedagencies’ recommendations.
People stored water during theprevious rainy season and in areas that faced water shortages, water wascarried to every household, he said.
According to the Directorate ofWater Resources, the dry season 2019-2020 hit the Mekong Delta region in themiddle of November 2019, about a month earlier than in previous years, while itlasted twice as long as the dry season in 2016.
According to the CultivationDepartment under the MARD, saline intrusion directly hit 10 out of 13 MekongDelta localities.
About 41,900 ha or 2.7 percentof the total winter-spring rice crop in the region was damaged by the salineintrusion, of which, Tra Vinh lost 14,300ha, Tien Giang 4,500ha, Soc Trang4,100ha, Kien Giang 1,600ha, Long An 800ha and Ca Mau 600ha.
The lost crops weremainly planted after December 2019 as farmers did not take the advice ofagencies.
About 6,650ha of orchards wereaffected by the droughts and saline intrusion. More than 1,240ha ofother crops were affected.
About 8,715ha of aquacultureproduction including fish and shrimp were affected, mostly in the provinces ofTien Giang, Ben Tre, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang.
About 96,000 households hadtheir water supply disrupted during the dry season due to droughts and salinewater. Meanwhile, droughts and saline intrusion in the dry season2015-2016 caused water shortages for about 210,000 households in the regionthough it lasted about two months./.
VNA
