Tien Giang (VNS/VNA) - More rice farmers in the Mekong Deltaprovince of Tien Giang have switched to other crops as part of efforts to adaptto climate change.

In Cai Lay and CaiBe districts in the upstream area of the Tien River, atributary of the Mekong, they either switched completely or rotated rice withother crops in the ongoing 2019 -2020 dry season,according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Cai Be now uses more than 5,300ha of low-yield rice paddiesto grow speciality fruits and rotates vegetables and rice on another 1,200ha.

Pham Van Thanh, head of the Cai Be Bureau of Agriculture andRural Development, said farmers had grown many high-value vegetables likebitter gourd, cucumber and onion.

They have short growing periods and high yields, and requireless water and offer higher profits than rice, according to Thanh.

Farmers who grow vegetables in the two districts earn threeto five times more than from rice, according to the department.

Tran Ly Ngu Binh, head of the Cai LayBureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, said to enable rice farmers toswitch to other crops, the district has upgraded irrigation canals and builtnew ones to ensure sufficient water.

Cai Lay has invested more than 29.6 billion VND (1.3million USD) so far this year in 67 irrigationprojects.

Cai Be has spent more than 56 billion VND (2.4million USD) to build 167 irrigation projects,dredge canals and upgrade sluices to keep out saltwater.

Drought and saltwater intrusion have affected nearly 60,000haof crops in the 2019 -2020 dry season in theprovince’s western region, which includes the two districts and Cai Lay town.

They include more than 23,000ha of rice and 36,000ha ofspeciality fruits.

Besides improving irrigation facilities, the localities havealso installed water salinity testing devices along rivers.

The Cai Be District People’s Committee has installed 25 ofthem in communes along the Tien River to measure salinity on a daily basis.

Communes and farmers have hundreds more of the devices. 

In Cai Lay, in areas that lack saltwater prevention dykes,authorities have told farmers how to store water and keep out saltwater in theHam Luong River, one of theprovince’s largest.

Authorities regularly provide information about saltwaterintrusion and the schedule for opening and closing sluices to farmers so thatthey know when to draw water from rivers and canals for irrigation.  

The province has transported water from other places to savespeciality fruit crops, which are facing a severe shortage of water due todrought and saltwater intrusion.

Around 2,275ha of fruit orchards have been affected by thewater shortage, with 2,186ha being damaged by 30 – 70 percent and the rest bymore than 70 percent.

Tien Giang, the country’s largest fruit producer, has morethan 77,700ha under fruits, which include specialty fruits like Lo Renmilk apple, Hoa Loc mango, Ngu Hiep durian, and Cho Gaodragon fruit.

The province grows more than 1.5 million tonnes annually./.