Irrigation works "repaint" green for the land

Binh Thuan is a province located in the driest region of the country, so for a long time the water source for people's daily life has been very scarce. Therefore, in order to exploit the potential and develop the socio-economy, solving the water source for production and daily life of the people is one of the top issues that the locality focuses on solving.

Growth in agricultural production

The provincial agricultural sector emphasizes that irrigation plays a decisive role in the growth of area, productivity, and output in agricultural production, preserving the ecological environment, and preventing natural disasters. “Carrying” such an extremely important task, one can feel the changes since irrigation was introduced in the areas of Binh Thuan that often suffer from drought.

Indeed, along with Bac Binh, Tuy Phong, Ham Thuan Bac districts... benefiting from and constantly developing from irrigation water sources, Ham Thuan Nam district has been gradually perfecting its irrigation network to combat drought, along with socio -economic development. For a long time, Ham Thuan Nam has been one of the localities that often lacks water for daily life and production in the dry season. Recently, thanks to upgrading and investing in a number of irrigation systems in the area, the "capital" of dragon fruit is increasingly covered in green. The green color of dragon fruit also permeates the foothills, the most barren places in the drought area. Under the care of people, that green color is also the contribution of irrigation water for irrigating crops.

Irrigation water "network" canal system.

As shared by Mr. Dang Thai Phi, Phu Tho village, Ham Cuong commune, Ham Thuan Nam district: I am producing more than 2,000 dragon fruit pillars near Du Du lake area. Previously, the water source for irrigation of dragon fruit was very difficult, irrigation was intermittent so the efficiency was not high. Up to now, thanks to the irrigation water source, dragon fruit output has increased, agricultural farmers have partly relieved their worries about irrigation water, especially during the peak months of the dry season.

According to the People's Committee of Ham Thuan Nam district, up to now, the whole district has invested in 16 reservoir and irrigation dam projects. From 2008 to 2017, with a total designed useful capacity of 45,119 million m3, meeting irrigation needs for 7,000 hectares of agricultural land.

In 2022, the locality coordinated to build and upgrade and repair 2 irrigation works including Tan Lap and Ta Mon and organized dredging of irrigation canals. In addition, 3 more intra-field canals were solidified. At the same time, it proposed to upgrade Ba Bau Lake, coordinate to invest in the Du Du - Tan Thanh canal, upgrade the Song Mong - Du Du - Tan Lap water transfer canal and coordinate to build Ka Pet Lake... to increasingly better meet the water source for the people.

Water "paints" blue

If in the past, Bac Binh had a lot of abandoned land, now irrigation works have "repainted" the green color of the land, with many fields, farms, and advantageous crops being promoted. In addition, the area, productivity, and output of crops are constantly increasing, farmers have a more stable income, and many households have become rich from agriculture. This is the assessment of Provincial Party Secretary Duong Van An on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the re-establishment of Bac Binh district taking place in mid-2023.

Known as one of the most arid localities in the province in recent years, Bac Binh district has now become one of the localities with a complete irrigation system and abundant water resources, serving not only the people in the district. According to the People's Committee of Bac Binh district, since 1983, agricultural production has been spontaneous, people's lives have been difficult, and incomes have been low. At that time, agriculture was identified as the main economic sector, but irrigation water sources depended on annual rainfall. Dry weather, lack of water for daily life, production, and livestock farming often occurred locally in some localities, leading to a lot of abandoned land. In the following years, many new projects were built, creating a change in the appearance of the district, contributing to meeting the needs of production and people's lives, and being a breakthrough in the socio-economic development of the locality.

In particular, among them, we must mention typical agricultural production works such as Dong Moi Dam; Ca Giay reservoir. In addition, we must mention extremely important works, contributing to "erasing dryness" and spreading green to Bac Binh, such as Phan Ri - Phan Thiet irrigation project, water supply project to Le Hong Phong area. Most recently, the Song Luy reservoir project was put into use, playing a particularly important role in providing water for daily life and tourism; maintaining environmental flows; reducing downstream floods; providing irrigation water for tens of thousands of hectares of people's cultivated land...

According to Mr. Mai Kieu - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in recent years, thanks to good investment in irrigation works, especially the initiative to build irrigation canals, the whole province has proactively irrigated over 50% of the cultivated land area that needs irrigation every year and provided water to serve the people's daily needs. However, there are still large areas that have not been irrigated, especially in the South such as Ham Thuan Nam, Ham Tan, La Gi. Meanwhile, agriculture is a sector that needs "first water, second fertilizer, third diligence, fourth seeds", so continuing to invest in irrigation infrastructure will create even development among regions in the province, contributing to expanding the irrigated planting area. Thanks to irrigation, the province's agricultural sector has been, is and will develop rapidly. Irrigation has truly created deep trust among the people in the Party and State's policy of agricultural and rural development. Thereby, it has actively contributed to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, ensuring food security, rapidly increasing the number of farming households getting rich legitimately, many rural areas have improved, and people are assured to stabilize their lives. Irrigation works have contributed to "repainting" the green color of the land, which is a very meaningful achievement for a dry province like Binh Thuan.

Binh Thuan Irrigation Works Exploitation Company Limited said that up to now, the whole province has 49 reservoirs with a total capacity of about 442 million m3. The task is to provide stable irrigation water for 3 crops/year for more than 41,000 hectares of cultivated land. At the same time, it supplies raw water for domestic water plants about 124,000 m3/day and night. Currently, the province has invested in upgrading 17 reservoirs, the remaining 14 degraded reservoirs have not been repaired. Of which, 7 reservoirs have a capital plan for upgrading.

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