Thousands of hectares of food and industrial crops in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong are under serious threat due to a prolonged drought, said the provincial agricultural sector.

DAk Mil district is hardest hit with 177ha of wet rice and 2,352 ha of coffee drying up, while Krong No district has 281 ha of rice and 433 ha of coffee.

Overall, there is no water for 585 ha of rice and over 2,687 ha of coffee and peppers.

According to the provincial bureau of water resource and flood control, 18 reservoirs have dried up after months without rains while the remaining 160 reservoirs have seen water dropping under the normal level for this time of the year.

Le Van Thuan, head of the provincial bureau of water resource and flood control said that if the drought lasts until mid-April, the damaged area will be expanded to 11,000 -12,000 hectares of coffee, pepper and rice.-VNA