Vietnamplus

Vietnam expects to achieve its export target of 6.7 million tonnes of rice this year due to high global demand, according to an official.

Provinces in the Mekong Delta are taking prompt actions to help local residents adapt to drought and saltwater intrusion during the dry season.

The European Union (EU) has decided to provide 60,000 EUR (66,600 USD) in humanitarian aid for the Mekong Delta to help local residents cope with drought and saltwater intrusion.

Saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta is forecast to continue and get worse amid tidal surges in the time to come, according the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is taking steps to ensure sufficient freshwater supply for household use and agricultural production in areas affected by saltwater intrusion and drought.

Saline intrusion has occurred earlier than normal in the Mekong Delta and is expected to affect a greater area this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Though saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta was predicted to come earlier and with higher level of salinity than that recorded in the 2015-2016 dry season, the damages to farming areas are expected to be less serious as authorities and farmers have taken measures to cope with the situation in the 2019-2020 dry season.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) asked localities nationwide to stay active in responding to drought and saltwater intrusion, during a meeting in Hanoi on February 7.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has forecast saltwater intrusion for 10 of the 13 provincial-level localities in the Mekong Delta this dry season, and the phenomenon has already appeared in eight so far.

A conference was held in Ben Tre province on January 3 to discuss measures for coping with drought and saltwater intrusion which are getting more serious in the Mekong Delta this dry season.

Saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre is affecting seedling production and farmers have taken measures to secure irrigation water, according to local authorities.

Lemongrass farmers in Tien Giang province’s Tan Phu Dong district, the Mekong Delta’s largest producer of the herb, are earning growing incomes now since prices are increasing.

Saltwater has intruded early this year into the Mekong Delta’s coastal provinces, affecting the availability of freshwater for irrigation and household use.

The Mekong Delta may experience sooner and even more serious droughts and saltwater intrusion in the 2019 – 2020 dry season, compared to the situation in 2016 when historic saline intrusion was recorded, an official has said.

Authorities in provinces in the Mekong Delta and Can Tho city are dredging irrigation works and storing fresh water to cope with saltwater intrusion during the dry season.

Forty seven of HCM City’s 56 rural communes have met all 19 criteria set in the national target programme on building new-style rural areas, according to the municipal Party Committee.

The income per capita of rural residents in Kien Giang province, the country’s largest rice producer, has reached 46.2 million VND (1,990 USD) a year, up 1.5 times against 2015, mostly due to the use of new farming models and agricultural restructuring.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed to allocate rice from national reserve for the south central province of Binh Dinh to help ease difficulties faced by local residents in natural disaster-hit areas.

Rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta are becoming alarming, said Prof. David Dapice, Senior Economist, Vietnam and Myanmar Programme, Harvard Kennedy School, at a meeting with leaders of Can Tho city on October 8.

The Mekong Delta region is sinking between 2 and 5cm per year, Lao Dong newspaper reported, citing source from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).