Saltwater has intruded into nearly 20,000 hectares of rice fields in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Van Su has said.
The situation is, for the most part, due to climate change impact and seawater level rise, he noted.
At the same time, local farmers themselves have also worsened the intrusion after they pumped sea water into their rice fields to raise shrimps, thus affecting surrounding rice land.
Su warned that saltwater intrusion will pollute the environment and diminish the quality of land, which is unfavourable for both shrimp and rice farming.
To tackle the problem, the Ca Mau People’s Committee has ordered its localities to build more breakwaters and water retention walls to prevent saline water.
It also plans to further educate farmers to raise their awareness of the issue and firmly handle intentional violations. In the long term, the province will consider converting poor-performing rice land into shrimp farming areas.
With a coastline of 252km, Ca Mau has an eastern sea dyke linked with Ganh Hao in the southern province of Bac Lieu . Meanwhile, its western sea dyke stretching from Phu Tan district to the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has suffered heavy damage in parts, resulting into salt intrusion.
This has adversely affected production and livelihoods of thousands of local households.-VNA
The situation is, for the most part, due to climate change impact and seawater level rise, he noted.
At the same time, local farmers themselves have also worsened the intrusion after they pumped sea water into their rice fields to raise shrimps, thus affecting surrounding rice land.
Su warned that saltwater intrusion will pollute the environment and diminish the quality of land, which is unfavourable for both shrimp and rice farming.
To tackle the problem, the Ca Mau People’s Committee has ordered its localities to build more breakwaters and water retention walls to prevent saline water.
It also plans to further educate farmers to raise their awareness of the issue and firmly handle intentional violations. In the long term, the province will consider converting poor-performing rice land into shrimp farming areas.
With a coastline of 252km, Ca Mau has an eastern sea dyke linked with Ganh Hao in the southern province of Bac Lieu . Meanwhile, its western sea dyke stretching from Phu Tan district to the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has suffered heavy damage in parts, resulting into salt intrusion.
This has adversely affected production and livelihoods of thousands of local households.-VNA
