Risk of fresh water shortage and saltwater intrusion
Monitoring data recorded on September 10, 2020 showed that, new floodwaters poured into some areas of the watershed of the Mekong Delta in the provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap. Although the water came back almost 2 months late compared to the previous years, but the water level was low. Mr. Vo Van Ut, a farmer in Thuan An ward, Thot Not district (Can Tho city) said: "Low, late floods will make it difficult for farmers to grow rice, fruit trees and aquaculture" .
According to the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, the possibility of flood peaks in 2020 will appear at the end of September and the highest water level of the year on Tien River (in Tan Chau) and Hau River (in Chau Doc) may be lower than the average flood peak for many years, from 0.2 to 0.4 m. Associate Professor, Dr. Le Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Research Institute for Climate Change (Can Tho University) said: “Due to this current low, late floods situation, in the next dry season, the Mekong River Delta will face the risk of fresh water shortage”.
Low and late floods also make the Mekong River Delta face the risk of saltwater intrusion in coastal areas during high tide. According to the Southern Regional Meteorological and Hydrological Station, from now to the end of 2020, the Mekong River Delta will experience four tidal waves (one every month). Specifically, the first storm surge will appear from September 18 to September 21; the next flood waves appeared from October 15 to October 19 respectively; from November 14 to 18 and from December 13 to 17. The height of these storm surges may reach a record on October 18, if it coincides with the period of storm surge activity.
Dr. Hoang Van Thang, former MARD Deputy Minister, Chairman of the Vietnam Big Dam Association said: “To proactively respond, in the long term, localities in the Mekong River Delta need to organize production shift, especially agricultural production adapting to the new situation ”.
Actively adapt to natural conditions
2020 flood season is expected to appear late, the water level is low. In order to actively adapt and ensure stable agricultural production, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has directed localities in the Mekong River's watershed to sow early, increase the area of rice cultivation in the autumn-winter crop. The downstream and coastal provinces increase freshwater storage and convert livestock and crops to suit the salinity that increases when high tides penetrate deeply into the interior fields. Accordingly, the Mekong River Delta can produce 800,000 ha of autumn-winter rice in 2020, an increase of 75,800 ha over the same period; production is estimated at 4.4 million tons, up 492,000 tons compared to 2019.
These days, farmers in the Mekong River Delta have sowed about 600,000 ha and will stop sowing in the middle of September 2020. In the upstream province of An Giang, the director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Si Lam said: “We plan to produce more than 161,500 ha of autumn-winter rice. Up to now, 106,000 ha are sown, the remaining area continues to sow”. Or in Bac Lieu province, there was a plan to actively expand the rice cultivating area ST24 and ST25 by engineer Ho Quang Cua and his colleagues (once in the top 3 "world delicious rice"). This is a salt-tolerant and well-consumed rice variety, combined with shrimp farming in high-salinity fields, including districts of Hong Dan, Phuoc Long and a part of Gia Rai town, on a total area of about 60,000 hectares (accounting for 51.47% of the total cultivated area of the province). Mr. Ly Thanh Tuan, farmer in Vinh Phu Tay commune, Phuoc Long district (Bac Lieu province) excitedly said: “The rice crop on the shrimp soil just recently I sowed nearly 2 ha of rice variety ST24. The rice grows well, evenly, with few pests and diseases; sold at a high price so income also increased significantly”.
The Agriculture sector of Dong Thap province is planning to flood discharge over 56,000 ha into the fields of Dong Thap Muoi, taking alluvium in upstream districts. Meanwhile, the provinces of Kien Giang and An Giang have coordinated the implementation of the flood season livelihood program and temporary water storage in the Long Xuyen Quadrangle. Accordingly, the two localities will build a schedule of alternating rice seed sowing, avoiding the case that farmers of the two provinces simultaneously take water for production at the same time, leading to the depletion of water resources on inland rivers.
Associate Professor, Dr. Le Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Research Institute for Climate Change (Can Tho University) commented: "To respond to climate change, provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta Long has been promoting regional planning and large-scale development of rice land in An Giang, Hau Giang, Dong Thap, and coastal provinces such as Soc Trang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, and Ca Mau, etc. also changed production practices, shifting to growing rice - color; rice - shrimp in some areas specializing in 3-crop rice cultivation in order to bring the highest efficiency ".
