ℱUpgrading the country’sirrigation system to improve its efficiency to 80 percent will requirearound 20 trillion VND (nearly 1 billion USD), under a plan drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
ౠ The plan seeks to increase the total irrigated areas by 5 percent by 2020 and reduce electricity and water use per hectare by 10 percent.
♒ Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hoang Van Thang told a recent meeting that though the country gets a lot of rainfall, a widespread irrigation system is needed because of the uneven distribution of rainwater in terms of location and time.
🌺 The country has 904 large to medium-sized irrigation works that can provide water for 200 ha of fields or more. Together they irrigate 5.5 million ha and keep out saltwater from 0.87 million ha.
💝 There are also more than 8,000 other facilities like weirs, sluice gates, and pumping stations.
💜 There are 6,831 dams of various kinds with a combined capacity of 50 billion cu. m. of water. They not only provide water for 80,000ha of lands and people’s daily use, but also help generate electricity.
🔜 The largest ones include Hoa Binh, Thac Ba, Son La, Na Hang, Nui Coc, Cam Son, Cua Dai, Song Muc, Ban Ve, Ke Go and Dau Tieng.
ꦡ But many of the facilities have seriously deteriorated, badly effecting water supply, according to Nguyen Duy Hien, deputy director of the General Irrigation and Water Management Office.
🐻 Many pumps were installed in the 1960s, and their efficiency has been down to just 70-75 percent now, he said, pointing out that many reservoirs were 30 to 40 years old.
𝔍 In addition, many of the workshave been affected by illegal encroachment by people and severepollution due to waste water discharged by industrial parks, farms, andresidential areas, he said.
💫 Consequently, many irrigation works operate at only 60-65 percent of capacity, some at a mere 30 percent, he said. Their reduced efficiency has also increased the cost of operating because of the great amounts of water and electricity wasted.
🅺 The plan will include some drastic measures to resolve all these problems, Thang added.-VNA
ౠ The plan seeks to increase the total irrigated areas by 5 percent by 2020 and reduce electricity and water use per hectare by 10 percent.
♒ Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hoang Van Thang told a recent meeting that though the country gets a lot of rainfall, a widespread irrigation system is needed because of the uneven distribution of rainwater in terms of location and time.
🌺 The country has 904 large to medium-sized irrigation works that can provide water for 200 ha of fields or more. Together they irrigate 5.5 million ha and keep out saltwater from 0.87 million ha.
💝 There are also more than 8,000 other facilities like weirs, sluice gates, and pumping stations.
💜 There are 6,831 dams of various kinds with a combined capacity of 50 billion cu. m. of water. They not only provide water for 80,000ha of lands and people’s daily use, but also help generate electricity.
🔜 The largest ones include Hoa Binh, Thac Ba, Son La, Na Hang, Nui Coc, Cam Son, Cua Dai, Song Muc, Ban Ve, Ke Go and Dau Tieng.
ꦡ But many of the facilities have seriously deteriorated, badly effecting water supply, according to Nguyen Duy Hien, deputy director of the General Irrigation and Water Management Office.
🐻 Many pumps were installed in the 1960s, and their efficiency has been down to just 70-75 percent now, he said, pointing out that many reservoirs were 30 to 40 years old.
𝔍 In addition, many of the workshave been affected by illegal encroachment by people and severepollution due to waste water discharged by industrial parks, farms, andresidential areas, he said.
💫 Consequently, many irrigation works operate at only 60-65 percent of capacity, some at a mere 30 percent, he said. Their reduced efficiency has also increased the cost of operating because of the great amounts of water and electricity wasted.
🅺 The plan will include some drastic measures to resolve all these problems, Thang added.-VNA
