The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has forecast saltwater intrusion for 10 of the 13 provincial-level localities in the Mekong Delta this dry season, and the phenomenon has already appeared in eight so far.
Giant water storage bags are among the solutions people in Ben Tren province use to cope with saltwater intrusion (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has forecast saltwater intrusion for10 of the 13 provincial-level localities in the Mekong Delta this dry season,and the phenomenon has already appeared in eight so far.
The MARD said that drought and saltwaterintrusion in the region, the largest agricultural production hub in Vietnam,will be more serious this year than in 2015-2016, when historic salineintrusion was recorded. The provinces of Kien Giang, Ca Mau and Bac Lieu arelikely to be hit hardest.
A salinity level of four grammes per litre hasentered 40-67km into the mainland, about 10-15km deeper than the average.
In Ben Tre, saltwater has intruded across mostof the province.
In Vinh Long, the local hydrometeorologicalstation recorded a salinity level of 10 grammes per litre at the Nang Amsluice, which is also the highest reported since 2015-2016. The salinity isforecast to even exceed that level in the next few days.
Facing this situation, the MARD has been workingto build 19 key anti-saline intrusion facilities, two-thirds of which have beenput into use to support about 50,000-60,000ha of crops.
Farms in Ben Tre province, especially in fruitgrowing areas like Cho Lach and Chau Thanh districts and Ben Tre city, havecarried out effective measures to store freshwater such as buying big waterstorage bags, covering ditches and canal beds with water-proof fabric, andbuilding cement water tanks.
In Tien Giang, the agricultural sector has alsotaken measures such as regulating the water flow along canals, pumpingfreshwater into irrigation canals, speeding up the construction of irrigationworks, and shutting down sluice gates when saltwater appears./.
Authorities in provinces in the Mekong Delta and Can Tho city are dredging irrigation works and storing fresh water to cope with saltwater intrusion during the dry season.
The Mekong Delta may experience sooner and even more serious droughts and saltwater intrusion in the 2019 – 2020 dry season, compared to the situation in 2016 when historic saline intrusion was recorded, an official has said.
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Saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre is affecting seedling production and farmers have taken measures to secure irrigation water, according to local authorities.
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Giant water storage bags are among the solutions people in Ben Tren province use to cope with saltwater intrusion (Photo: VNA) 
