Salt water plagues Delta rice farms

A sluice gate is designed to protect rice fields from salt water in Gia Rai District in the Mekong Delta’s province of Bac Lieu. — Photo Courtesy Bac Lieu News

CUU LONG DELTA (VNS)— The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta will face a shortage of fresh water as well as increased saline-water intrusion during the dry season, according to the Central Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre.The water level at the Mekong River’s upstream area is now 0.6-0.7 metres lower than the average level.At the end of December, water with a salt content of 0.4 per cent entered 20-30 km deep inland from river mouths in many areas.In the Tien and Hau rivers, two main tributaries of the Mekong River, water with a high salt content of 0.4 per cent will be able to enter 55 km deeper inland during the dry season.Similarly, in the Vam Co Dong and Vam Co Tay rivers, saline water may enter more than 70km inland.The salt content of water will be also higher than the last dry season.In Soc Trang Province, droughts and saline-water intrusion have affected dozens of thousands of hectares of winter-spring rice.In Ben Tre Province, saline-water intrusion has caused a fresh water shortage for agricultural production and for households in Binh Dai and Ba Tri districts for nearly one month.The Delta has carried out measures to prevent and control droughts and saline-water intrusion this dry season to ensure fresh-water supply, according to the Southern Irrigation Science Research Institute.The measures include closing sluice gates to prevent saline-water intrusion, building temporary dams to hold fresh water, dredging major canals, building dykes to maintain fresh water.The Delta’s provinces have also better informed farmers about local conditions so they can take action to prevent any potential damage.To mitigate losses from such conditions, farmers have been told to re-arrange their cultivation schedules and choose plant strains resistant to drought and saline water.The Delta now has five irrigation reservoirs, 1,221 pumping stations, 2,447 sluice gates and more than 80,000km of canals, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.It also has 25,900km of dykes built to prevent floods, 460km of sea dykes, 1,600km of river dykes and 200km of dykes that hold water to prevent fires.These irrigation works have provided services for more than 1.4 million ha of rice and have helped prevent and control floods.They have also enriched the high-alum soil in the Long Xuyen Quadrilateral, Dong Thap Muoi (Plain of Reeds) and Ca Mau peninsula areas.The Delta’s irrigation system for rice cultivation is in good condition, but the shrimp and rice cultivation along coastal areas still have weaknesses, according to the ministry.After 11 years of shrimp cultivation under both semi-industrial and industrial farms, the Delta has several areas of desertification, especially in the Ca Mau peninsula. This occurred after farmers took sea water into fresh-water zones for aquaculture.Saline water is entering the Delta inland from the East as well as West Sea.Local authorities in the Delta have asked the ministry to build irrigation projects on Cai Lon and Cai Be rivers to prevent saline-water intrusion from the West Sea. — VNS

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