Caption: The Cai Lon - Cai Be irrigation system in Kien Giang province is the largest of its kind in the country. (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNS/VNA)- Saltwater intrusion has begun to increase in the MekongDelta’s rivers, affecting irrigation of crops.
A salinity rate of four grammes per litre was seen 45-70km upstream inmajor rivers this week, according to the Department of Water Resources.
In the Vam Co Dong and Vam Co Tay rivers, saltwater has reached 65-70km deep,5-7km more than at this time last year, it said.
Most plants can only tolerate a rate of 1 gramme per litre.
But water is adequate for the ongoing winter-spring rice crop, thedepartment added.
The delta, the country’s largest rice, fruit and seafood producer, has1.5 million hectares under the crop.
The saltwater intrusion from the sea occurs annually during the dryseason between December and April.
To cope with it, the delta’s 12 provinces and Can Tho Citytake various measures such as restructuring agriculture, building irrigationworks and storing freshwater.
Kien Giang province,the country’s largest rice producer, is dredging irrigation canals to increasetheir capacity.
Nguyen Huynh Trung, head of the province’s Irrigation Sub-department, saidan estimated 117 temporary soil dams would be built to store water.
It has 36 such dams and with saltwater prevention sluices to protect theongoing rice crop, he said.
It has instructed farmers to test the salinity rate before irrigatingtheir fields, he said.
In Tien Giang province, authorities are building six saltwaterprevention sluices along the TienRiver, a tributary of the Mekong, at a cost of 864 billion VND (37 million USD). The construction is expected to be completedin June.
They have also dredged 544 irrigation works and canals with a totallength of 888km to ensure there is enough water for the current crop.
The country’s largest fruit producing province encourages farmers tostore water in ponds dug in fruit orchards and fields and use it efficiently./.
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Caption: The Cai Lon - Cai Be irrigation system in Kien Giang province is the largest of its kind in the country. (Photo: VNA) 
