In Vietnam rice threatened by sea water

In some places seawater has entered 50-70 km into the mainland. About 40 percent of rice growing areas has been affected by saltwater while one third of the rural population in the delta don’t have sufficient freshwater for daily activities. Many canals have dried up in An Giang and Dong Thap provinces because of prolonged dry and hot season, forcing locals to use unsafe water from contaminated canals or stagnant pools. Ben Tre Province is affected the most by the phenomena. Saltwater encroachment there is more severe than that elsewhere in the region. At the same time, Bac Lieu Province suffers great damage from the shortage of seawater for shrimp production, causing heavy losses for local shrimp breeders. “We are trying to meet both the demand for freshwater of rice growers and the needs of seawater of shrimp breeders, but it is very hard for us to keep a harmony between the two demands at the same time,” said a local official. Saving rice production without damaging shrimp breeding is the challenge at hand for Bac Lieu authorities.