Salt water encroaches into Cuu Long Delta

KIEN GIANG— Salt water intrusion and drought are threatening thousands of hectares of crops in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

As much as 800,000ha of rice in the Delta may be affected by the end of the month, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Water with a salt content of 0.4 per cent has now entered as far inland as 30km in Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh and Soc Trang provinces, according to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research. Crops in the provinces of Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Hau Giang have also been affected by similar levels of intrusion.

To add to their worries, the Hydro-Meteorological Bureau of Ben Tre Province has predicted that salt water may encroach 60km inland as the drought peaks.

Duong Quoc Viet, head of Soc Trang's sub-department of irrigation, said that drought and salt water intrusion would continue until the beginning of May, adding that more than 50,000ha of the province's crops were at high risk of being lost from lack of fresh water.

Initial losses caused by salt water intrusion to winter-spring crops were estimated to total VND70 billion (US$3,684), said Tran Quang Cui from the Kien Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The ministry's Cultivation Department has instructed provinces in the region to save fresh water for farming in reservoirs and canals and close sluice gates to prevent further salt water intrusion.

Provinces in the region are strengthening measures to respond to salt water intrusion as the region faces a severe drought this dry season.—VNS