Hau Giang (VNS/VNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue hascalled on Hau Giang province to make more efforts to become oneof the leading localities in the Mekong Delta region in the next fiveyears.

It needs to overcome obstaclesto boost its socio-economic development, he said at a meetingwith the province’s leaders on March 25.

The province hasmany concentrated planting areas for rice, sugarcane,pineapple, and other fruit trees using hi-tech farming methods.

But it suffers from low per capitaincome, high share of agriculture in the economy and a low rate of newenterprises being set up.

Hue said the province should pay moreattention to rice production, strengthen the fight against African swinefever, prevent erosion of river banks and saltwater intrusion,build dams to keep out saltwater, and remove difficulties faced bybusinesses.

Le Tien Chau, Chairman of the provincialPeople’s Committee, said in the first three months of this year, theprovince’s public spending has been worth nearly 3 trillion VND (129 millionUSD), 6.3 percent up from the same period last year,and revenues were 1.5 trillion VND (64.7 million USD).

It has actively implemented measures for firesafety and preventing riverbank erosion and saltwater intrusion, he said.

Chau called on the government to allocatefunds for upgrading National Highway 61B section from VinhTuong crossroads to Long My town, approve the increase in the chartercapital of the Investment and Development Fund, establishcredit guarantee funds for small and medium enterprises,and provide 100 billion VND (4.3 million USD) to the province fromthe Central Enterprise Arrangement Support Fund.

He asked for permission to convert the LungNgoc Hoang Nature Reserve’s special use forest into a production forestand approval for three projects added to the list of Mekong Delta regionalconnectivity projects and a project to grow pineapple in Hau Giangand three other delta provinces by 2025.

It also needs around 50 billion VND (2.16million USD) to build a high-tech agricultural zone, he said.

Hue said the governmentwould consider urgent proposals like building a road linkingthree communes with the rest of the province, works to respond to naturaldisasters and promoting regional connectivity.

During the dry season, Hau Giang authoritiesregularly disseminate information on saltwater intrusion inestuaries so that decisions can be made quickly to help farmers adaptto unpredictable weather conditions.

The province’s Long My district isa saltwater intrusion hotspot during the dry season.

In its Luong Nghia and Vinh Vien A communes,salinity levels have been measured at 12 percent, but local farmers haveadapted.

Le Van Phuoc, Secretary of the district’s PartyCommittee, is going around with local agricultural officials to households totell people to store freshwater.

He tells them to use lu and kieu, traditional storage tanksin the region, to store freshwater.

He is now reassured after locals have planted400ha of pineapple, a crop that is highly resistant to climatechange impacts.

“Saltwater intrusion could help improvethe quality of pineapple by making it more flavourful,” hesaid.

The province has invited scientists from CanTho University to help farmers growing the renowned Cau Ducpineapple improve their planting techniques to ensure they are resistantto diseases.

Cau Duc pineapples are grown mostly in Long Mydistrict and Vi Thanh city on a total area of 35ha, and annual output is around36 tonnes.

The province has allocated over 84 billion VND (3.6million USD) to building dykes and dredging rivers to enable freshwaterstorage.

A 32.5km dyke system with38 sluices has been built between Long My district and Vi Thanhcity to prevent saltwater intrusion.

The province is one of the first localities inthe delta to build freshwater reservoirs, and has earmarked 165 billion VND (7.1million USD) for it.

It is introducing many models to grow pomelo,pepper and cajuput and breed ducks, helping farmers adapt to climate change.

Chau said it is essential to help farmersaccess appropriate solutions to develop high-tech agricultural modelsby adopting industry 4.0 technologies.

“Farmers and co-operatives can get support fromscientists, institutes, schools, and businesses.”

Smart and advanced technologies have beenapplied to farming thac lac fish, pineapple, seedless lemon,soursop, honeydew melon, and dragon fruit.

The province has adopted solutions suchas developing a digital map of salinity areas, surveying andevaluating the hydrology and sediment regime,topographic features and geology in its main rivers and canalsthat face the risk of imminent collapse, and building a database and a model toissue landslide warnings.

It plans to expand and upgrade its networkof automatic air and water monitoring monitoring stations.-VNS/VNA