Speaking at the workshop, Nguyen Duy Tuan, Director of the Institute of Geology, Water and Environment, said that responding to climate change, especially in the Mekong Delta, was a top national priority. “It’s vital to seek solutions and invest in new structures to prevent tides and saline intrusion. We also need to store fresh water and respond to rising sea levels in the Mekong Delta, as well as cope with flooding in HCM City,” he said. The Vung Tau-Go Cong sea dyke project, which was proposed in 2011 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, would include a 28km-long main dyke extending from Go Cong Commune (Tien Giang province) to a point 5 km from Vung Tau City (Ba Ria-Vung Tau province), where it would connect with another dyke 13km long running to Can Gio Biosphere Reserve in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo for illustration. Source: dmhcc.gov.vn The project would also include construction of the Long Tau sluice, and canals North of the … [Read more...] about Sea dyke project hoped to help Mekong Delta cope with climate change
Mekong deltas
Erosion attacks yet another part of Vietnam’s Mekong delta
Residents living along a river in Can Tho City in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta had to rush out of their houses on April 6 as erosion sank into the river bank, sweeping away the street at their front yards. “People had to evacuate quickly, taking children, elders and furniture out of their houses,” a local named Nguyen Thi Le said. She said the authorities started building an embankment to prevent erosion on this bank section of the O Mon River the other day and everything seemed to be just fine back then. Now erosion took away an area that stretches 54 meters (177 feet) long, 12 meters wide, causing three houses and a parking garage in Thoi An Ward of O Mon District to subside and have cracked walls. Can Tho irrigation authorities said they have built an embankment to prevent erosion along the O Mon River since August last year and the project has been half-finished. They just started work at the eroded section in Thoi An by driving stakes into the river bed before the … [Read more...] about Erosion attacks yet another part of Vietnam’s Mekong delta
Mekong Delta ready for fight against climate change
As hot weather peaks this month in southern Việt Nam, authorities in the Cửu Long (Mekong Delta) region are stepping up efforts to cope with forest fires and salinisation as a response to climate change. –Photo dmhcc.gov.vn The Delta’s Kiên Giang Province alone has 86,450ha of forested land, accounting for 13.6 per cent of its total area. “As one of the vulnerable areas for forest fires in the dry season, U Minh Thượng National Park (UMTNP) in Kiên Giang Province is now our biggest concern,” said Lê Văn Trọng, a member of the management board at the park. “Fire prevention may be easier this year than in 2017 because the park has had few heavy rains in the first two months of the year. The water level is still high in small rivers and lakes in the park,” he added. Of the park’s total area of 21,000 hectares, 8,000 hectares comprise a core area which houses many rare and endangered birds. A … [Read more...] about Mekong Delta ready for fight against climate change
Mekong Delta farmers switch crops to cope with climate change
As the effects of climate change and salinity intrusion continue to plague farmers in the Mekong Delta, they have begun to restructure their cultivation plans. A farmer harvests mussels in the Mekong Delta’s Kiên Giang Province – VNS Photo “The saltwater has damaged thousands of hectares of rice in An Biên and An Minh districts, and other Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces. So, farmers in An Minh and An Biên districts are now breeding shrimp along with rice,” Lê Tấn, a farmer in Kiên Giang Province’s An Biên District said. Local authorities have been encouraging many farmers in the Delta to combine aquaculture and the cultivation of organic rice. In the past, farmers in coastal districts such as An Biên and An Minh grew two rice crops a year. One ha of rice produced only 2.5 to 4 tonnes and brought income of about VNĐ20 million (US$900). However, the combination of rice and aquaculture can … [Read more...] about Mekong Delta farmers switch crops to cope with climate change
Farmers in Mekong delta chop down sugar-cane because of low price
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Soc Trang Province’s Cu Lao Dung District yesterday said that local farmers have sold out sugar-cane in 3,000 hectare over 6,300 hectare. Sugar-cane consumption is very slow. Overripe sugar-cane trees in gardens in An Thanh 1, 2, 3, An Thanh Dong and An Thanh Nam communes are seen. Farmer Diep Van Tam in An Thanh 2 commune hopelessly said that I have toiled away in the farm for nearly one year; though prices of sugar-cane went down from VND700 a kilogram to VND500 a kilogram, no trader proposed buying. My family had to hire people to cut down the trees, transporting to the factory to sell; at last I suffered a loss of VND15 million ($658), he added. Farmers moaned that they spent VND50-60 million a hectare but because of low price, they suffered losses of VND10-20 million per hectare. Farmers in Tra Vinh province’s Tra Cu District where plant the tree in over 4,000 hectare. Though it is time for harvest, half of … [Read more...] about Farmers in Mekong delta chop down sugar-cane because of low price