Agricultural sector badly hit by severe drought

The prolonged drought, the severest in the last 50 years in the northern and central provinces, is putting hundreds of thousands of hectares of summer-autumn rice crops at risk of being ruined, which would cost nearly 2.5 trillion VND (131.5 million USD).

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the central region now has 47,000 ha of drought-affected crops, of which over 6,250 ha are now impossible to farm.

The ministry has also said that if there is no rain in the next ten days, the northern central region see around 46,000 ha seriously affected. The two hardest-hit provinces, Nghe An and Ha Tinh, are forecast to lose over 4,000 ha of rice each if there is no rain by next week.

In coastal southern central provinces, more than 25,000 ha of summer-autumn paddy fields will be lost due to the lack of water.

According to the MARD’s Department of Irrigation and Water Management, many reservoirs in the region reported water levels at only 30-40 percent of their designed capacity, enough for irrigation purposes for only 15-20 more days.

In the north, Hanoi is one of the areas to be hardest hit by the prolonged drought. Water levels in the Red River have hit a record 200 year low, resulting in hundreds of hectares of paddy fields “thirsty” for water.

Besides the drought, agricultural production has been seriously affected by diseases to plants and animals, causing great losses to farmers.

The prolonged hot and dry weather since early this year has resulted in a number of serious forest fires. According to the MARD, in the first six months of the year, the country saw 884 forest fires which ruined 6,348 ha, 4.5-times more than last year. At present, many localities are full alert for forest fires.

As the drought in the central region is predicted to continue through July, the MARD has asked the Prime Minister to grant over 300 billion VND (16 million USD) for central drought affected provinces.

The Department of Cultivation has also suggested the Government provide quick growing seedlings from national and local reserves and has asked all localities to delay planting or use new quick growth varieties of rice for the summer-autumn crop.

Tags: Vietnam agriculture