Provinces petition goverment to allocate VND 220 billion

HCM City (VNA) -- Provinces in the Mekong Delta have petitioned the Government to allocate VND 220 billion 12.2 million USD) for mitigating the impacts of drought and salt water intrusion.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said that coastal provinces
of Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Ben Tre now
have 620,000 ha of winter-spring rice affected by drought and salt water
intrusion, accounting for 40 percent of the provinces’ total rice area.

Pham Van Du, deputy head of the ministry’s Cultivation Department, said salt
water intrusion would cause a severe shortage of fresh water for 120,000 ha of the
spring-summer rice crop in early April.

Besides, the Delta would begin sowing 1.62 million ha of this year’s
summer-autumn rice crop in April and May; and 500 ha of this area needs to be
supported with additional irrigation, Du said.

The early onset of the dry season this year and prolonged drought have seen water
levels in all rivers fall lower than in previous years.

This has caused saline water from the East Sea to enter rivers by as far as
40-60 km inland. The saline content of water in these areas has been measured at
0.2-0.7 percent, according to the ministry’s Irrigation Department. Saline water
with a salt content of 0.4 percent and above can damage crops.

At the Ong Doc River alone, water with a salt content of 1.2-2.1 percent
has entered 50-60 km inland in Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces.

Salt water intrusion is expected to enter 70 km in May and coastal provinces will
be the hardest hit localities, according to the provinces’ hydro-meteorological
bureaus.

The delta provinces have been strengthening mitigatory measures, including
strengthening dykes and closing sluice gates to prevent further salt water
intrusion during high tides.
They have been also building irrigation works, dredging canals and preserving
fresh water in reservoirs, pools and canals for farming purposes.- Enditem