Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Morebreakthrough solutions are needed to help farmers in the Mekong Delta cope withunpredictably rising water levels, according to experts.

This year, floodwaters caused by heavy rains and water of the Mekong River havebeen rising at alarming levels, submerging thousands of hectares of rice andcrops and causing losses for farmers in Mekong Delta provinces.

The water levels, which are higherthan the average over the past decade, are forecast to reach warning Level 2 onthe Tien and Hau rivers in the next few days.

Since early last month, flooding hasstruck An Giang, Dong Thap and Long An provinces. Local farmers have beenrelieved as increasing water helps wash away saline residue and brings inaquatic resources.

In the past two years, floods wereeither low or non-existent, causing severe drought and saline intrusion.

However, early and powerful floodinghas caused unpredictable impacts for farmers.

Truong Bao Dung, a farmer in An Phufistrict’s Vinh Hau commune in An Giang province, said he set up a net of 20metres to catch linh fish, a specialty in flood season, but had only caught oneor two kilogrammes per day.

“The water is about 1.2 metreshigher than the previous year and flowing very fast, sweeping away most of thefish out of the net,” he said.

Nguyen Van Coi, another farmer inthe commune, is in the same situation. Coi said he only caught three or fourkilogrammes of tiny fish, earning 50,000 VND (2.1 USD) per day.

Normally, he could earn up to 200,000VND (8.6 USD) per day.

Flooding has also affected thecrops. Some 8,000 out of 111,000 hectares of rice are located outside the dykesystem and at risk of being flooded. In Dong Thap province, at least 150hectares of crops outside dyke-protected areas have been submerged. Many dykesare likely to be affected by floods, forcing farmers to make an early harvest.

Over the years, farmers have beenencouraged to plant three crops per year instead of four as usual to give thesoil a rest. During this time, the water from the floods would enter the closedembankment and bring alluvium, fish and other aquatic resources to the region,improving productivity of crops and fishery resources for farmers.

However, after two years of facingdrought due to low flood, many farmers have planted fruit trees instead ofletting the soil rest and regain nutrition as the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development encouraged.

Pham Thanh Tam, deputy head of An Phudistrict’s Agricultural Office, said many farmers whose crops are located indyke-protected areas have asked authorities to stop discharging water as theyhad switched to fruit trees.

Le Van Ne, farmer in Da Phuoc commune,said floodwaters have not been discharged for years. Ne has spent 240 million VND(10,320 USD) to switch his rice crop into fruit trees on 1.2 hectares of soilsince early this year to get more profit.

He has asked local authorities tokeep pausing the discharge of floodwaters.

Total cultivated land in the communeis nearly 1,300 hectares. About 220 hectares of rice crops have been switchedto fruit trees and subsidiary crops, with the farmers who haven’t losing out.

As a result, the ministry hastargeted restructuring agricultural production in the Mekong Delta to besuitable with climate change and floodwaters.

In An Giang, five models ofdiversified livelihoods, which combine rice crops and shrimp farms andmushrooms and grass for cows, will be implemented in areas outside of dykes in VinhHau, Vinh Loc and Phu Huu communes in An Phu district.

The development of diversifiedlivelihoods for farmers in low-lying areas is an urgent task. This would helpensure the lives of farmers, improve the quality of soil thanks to thefloodwaters and ensure rice production in the region, which is considered thecountry’s rice granary.

According to the ministry’s GeneralDepartment of Irrigation, five irrigation projects with total capital of morethan 4.7 trillion VND (202 million USD) are needed to help farmers in theMekong Delta live with floods.

Tran Anh Thu, director of An Giang province’sDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province wasconducting a project to improve the water adaptability and management of theupstream areas in the Mekong River in An Phu district.

It plans to focus on investing indykes and embankments for floodwater storage.

In addition, policies on supportingand creating faith for farmers to implement the new livelihoods neededpriority, experts said. Local authorities in the Mekong Delta should encourageco-operatives to apply the new models.

Local authorities should work withother sectors to attract enterprises to invest in the model from buildingprocessing factories to consumption and export to create more profit for farmers,they said.-VNS/VNA