Ensuring irrigation water for agricultural production

The pipeline carries water from Dau Tieng Lake across the Vam Co Dong River to irrigate Chau Thanh and Ben Cau districts. Photo: D.HT

In recent years, during the dry season, water shortages for production and daily life have frequently occurred in some localities in the province, especially in border districts such as Tan Bien, Chau Thanh and Ben Cau, where the irrigation system has not been fully invested. To overcome this situation, the fundamental solution is to invest in upgrading irrigation works, canal systems, and regulate water sources appropriately, avoiding the situation of "abundance in some places and shortage in others".

Initial effectiveness

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), from the end of 2022, phase 1 of the Irrigation Project for the West of the Vam Co Dong River (Project) will be put into operation, providing self-flowing irrigation water on the entire main canal system from An Co commune (Chau Thanh district) to Long Khanh commune (Ben Cau district) to serve the socio -economic development of the border communes of these two districts.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Ly - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Chau Thanh district said that in the area, there are 419 small irrigation canals, intra-field irrigation canals and canals and streams with drainage capacity with a total length of 94,367,142 m. In the past time, the District People's Committee has invested in 34 irrigation works, with a total length of 41,977 m, serving irrigation and drainage of 4,754 hectares of production land. The irrigation system under the Project has been put into operation and has also met the demand for irrigation water for hundreds of hectares of land along the canals.

Mr. Nguyen Van Bay (residing in Thanh Dong hamlet, Thanh Long commune) is cultivating about 0.5 hectares of crops and said that this year's dry season is quite harsh. The weather from the end of 2023 until now has been continuously hot and dry, without rain, but the wells in Thanh Dong hamlet still have enough water to pump, not lacking like previous years. According to Mr. Bay, his family's field is about 500 m from the main canal of the Project, so it is not possible to get water for direct irrigation like the fields nearby.

However, since the project began operating, he has noticed a marked improvement in the water level of the wells in the area. “There was a time when I pumped continuously for two or three days to irrigate the fields, but the water level still rose strongly; a few years ago, I would pump for only a few hours and the water level would drop, rise very weakly, and there was not enough water to irrigate,” Mr. Bay added.

In Ben Cau district, Mr. Le Van Ut (residing in Phuoc Tay hamlet, Long Phuoc commune) said that in previous years, agricultural cultivation of local people was very difficult, the water source for irrigation of crops was mainly from drilled wells, which was very costly. Sometimes, due to the sun, the groundwater level dropped so low that the wells became clogged, and there was no water for irrigation, affecting the growth of crops.

According to Mr. Ut, since the canal system under the Project through the area was cleared, he and the households with land along this canal have benefited a lot. Irrigation water is guaranteed, and crops grow better.

The water canal is invested in solidification.

Will continue to improve the irrigation system

The family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Be (residing in Long Hung hamlet, Long Thuan commune, Ben Cau district) has about 3 hectares of agricultural land. Every year, during the rainy season, her family sows rice, and during the dry season, they switch to other crops that require less water.

According to Ms. Be, her house is less than 500m from the Long Hung Pumping Station canal, but because there is no canal, she cannot get water to irrigate her crops, so she has to use well water. In the dry season, the underground water often falls off, making it difficult to pump water, greatly affecting crop yields. She hopes that the authorities will continue to invest in extending the Long Hung Pumping Station canal to the border area, helping farmers here to conveniently cultivate agriculture and develop the border economy.

To provide irrigation water for his family's 5 hectares of cassava, Mr. Huynh Van Ty (residing in Thanh Long commune, Chau Thanh district) had to drill 4 pumping wells but still did not have enough water, causing the cassava plants to grow poorly, increasing investment costs and reducing profits. He suggested that the relevant authorities continue to invest in branch canals to spread irrigation water more widely, maximizing the effectiveness of the Project, making it easier for people to cultivate, change crop structure, and improve economic efficiency.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tam - Vice Chairman of Long Thuan Commune People's Committee, Ben Cau District said that in the commune there are two pumping stations (Long Thuan and Long Hung) ensuring irrigation water supply for agricultural production for about 80% of farmers' production land area.

However, there are still some places without irrigation systems, such as in the Thuc Muc bridge area and Long Hung hamlet (total area of about 85 hectares), where the lack of irrigation water in the dry season often occurs, affecting production activities and people's lives. Currently, the project has been put into operation, but only the main canal and a few water canals have been invested, so only areas near the project have irrigation water.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nau - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Cau district, there are 5 pumping stations in the area, providing irrigation water for 3,205 hectares (according to design) of agricultural land and fire prevention and control for 770 hectares of forest. In addition, there are 4 main canals 110km long; 32 level 1 canals, more than 135km long; 65 level 2 canals, more than 137km long serving drainage and irrigation for 18,366 hectares.

Basically, the irrigation system in the district has been invested relatively complete. However, due to the long-term investment and small design capacity, Ben Dinh Pumping Station is currently not able to supply irrigation water according to the production needs - which have nearly doubled the design capacity - of farmers.

The district has proposed to the provincial authorities to survey, design and upgrade the capacity or build a new pumping station in the Ben Dinh pumping station system to ensure the supply of irrigation water to the people. In the border area, there are still some places lacking irrigation systems, causing difficulties in the dry season. This problem will be solved when the province implements the extension of the water channel under the Project from Long Cuong Hamlet - Long Khanh Commune to Moc Bai International Border Gate.

Proactive water source for agricultural production

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has 4 reservoirs (Dau Tieng, Tha La, Nuoc Trong 1, Nuoc Trong 2), 10 electric pumping stations, 1,759 irrigation canals, 365 drainage canals and 24 dyke lines; serving the irrigation water needs for agricultural production for about 150,270.65 ha/3 crops (about 75% of the agricultural production area in the province, of which, proactive irrigation water supply is 120,936.71 ha, reaching 80%); drainage for nearly 97,000 ha; industrial water supply of about 7 million cubic meters/year; flood prevention and protection for 2,709 ha of agricultural land.

The basic irrigation system is complete and adequate, with abundant water, ensuring the water needs for agricultural production, industry, and people's daily life; after the Project (phase 1) is completed, it will serve the self-flowing irrigation water supply for the border communes of Chau Thanh and Ben Cau districts.

Mr. Le Anh Tam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that according to the forecast of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, in the first months of 2024, El Nino will continue to persist, with the risk of drought and local water shortages in some areas.

In order to proactively and promptly implement measures to respond to possible droughts and water shortages, ensuring water supply for agricultural production, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development requests the Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited and the Tay Ninh Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited to closely monitor hydrometeorological forecast information, develop plans for water supply for irrigation, safely operate dams, reservoirs, and canal systems; regularly inventory water sources in irrigation works to operate, regulate promptly, reasonably, and proactively provide water sources for agricultural production, daily life, and industry.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development directed the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection to regularly monitor the fields, monitor the harvest and sowing situation to support farmers in a timely manner, ensuring the crop plan.

Minh Duong

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