Severe and prolonged drought and salinity have caused canals and waterways in the eastern part of Tien Giang province to gradually dry up. With the supply of freshwater gone, people have to carefully conserve every drop of water to irrigate their crops.
MAINLY KEEP THE TREE
In the eastern districts of the province, mid-April marks the peak of the hot season. The Tham Thu canal, from the Binh Phan pumping station (Binh Phan commune) to Binh Phuc Nhut commune (Cho Gao district), has dried up. Other inland canals are also gradually drying up. The harsh days of the "historic" drought and salinity season of 2019-2020 are repeating themselves. The canals and ditches are running dry of freshwater, causing many crops and vegetables to lack irrigation water.
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| Mr. Trung pumps water with a salinity of about 2-3 g/l to irrigate the lemongrass plants. |
Just over half a month ago, Mr. Nguyen Van Hang (Binh Phan commune, Cho Gao district) and his family and neighbors built a dam to pump water from the large canal to the smaller canal for irrigation. Now, although the canal still has water, it has become saline and unusable for irrigation.
Mr. Hang said: “Now the salinity of the water in the canals has reached 3-4 g/l, so it's impossible to pump water to irrigate the trees anymore. In the past few days, after harvesting the off-season dragon fruit crop, I had to cut off the water supply to the dragon fruit orchard. My 2-acre pomelo orchard has also stopped fruit treatment. There is very little water left in the orchard's irrigation ditches, so I only irrigate sparingly and very sparingly, mainly to protect the trees.”
Further south in Binh Phuc Nhut commune, a lack of water for production is a common situation for farmers here. When we arrived, Ms. Dinh Thi Them (Binh Khuong 1 hamlet, Binh Phuc Nhut commune) was watering her family's 1,000-hectare dragon fruit plantation. According to Ms. Them, her family had just harvested their off-season dragon fruit crop about half a month ago and are currently storing the "seasonal produce".
Pointing towards the canal opposite her dragon fruit orchard, Ms. Them shared: “The canal still has water, but it’s saltwater. The government is diverting it to prevent erosion and has notified people not to use it for watering their plants. My family has to buy well water from the water pump at a price of 100,000 VND per hour. So far, I’ve bought water three times to irrigate my dragon fruit. Here, many people buy fresh water and store it in plastic bags to use for watering their plants.”
WATER-SAVING IRRIGATION
Despite the severe drought and salinity, thanks to proactive water storage, water-saving irrigation techniques, and purchasing irrigation water, many dragon fruit orchards in Cho Gao district remain lush and green. Mr. Gian Van Em's family (Binh Tho 1 hamlet, Binh Phuc Nhut commune) cultivates over 6 acres of red-fleshed dragon fruit. Last season, his family successfully induced off-season flowering and harvested approximately 6 tons.
Because the trees bore fruit during a period of drought and salinity, Mr. Em's family bought fresh water from local wells to irrigate them. "Due to the severe drought and salinity, and because the dragon fruit was almost ripe, I didn't buy much water for irrigation and used it very sparingly. Now that the harvest is over, I've temporarily stopped watering. Dragon fruit is drought-tolerant, so it won't die if left unwatered for a while," Mr. Em explained.
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| Ms. Thêm buys well water to irrigate her dragon fruit plants. |
Also in Binh Phuc Nhut commune, Mr. Vo Huu Thuan's family (Binh Ninh hamlet) planted nearly 1 hectare of chives. In recent days, due to the drying up of canals and ditches, there is no longer water for irrigation, so the chives are not growing. Mr. Thuan expressed: "Here, the current price for buying well water to irrigate crops and vegetables is at least 60,000 VND/hour."
"This water source is licensed for agricultural production, and it's been drilled for several years now. My family has been buying water for irrigation for almost a month now. In total, I've spent nearly a million dong on irrigation water for my chives. Because of the lack of water, I'm just leaving the chives on the ground, waiting for the rain so they can grow again."
Further downstream towards the Go Cong freshwater irrigation system, the drought and salinity situation becomes more severe. Irrigation water for crops and vegetables becomes increasingly difficult. Mr. Truong Minh Thuan's family (Tang Hoa commune, Go Cong Dong district) currently cultivates 1.5 hectares of dragon fruit, of which 1 hectare is about 4 years old.
According to Mr. Thuan, after the historic drought and salinity intrusion in 2020, his family switched from rice to dragon fruit cultivation. This year, the drought and salinity intrusion have recurred; although there is still water in the canals, it has become saline, leading to a shortage of irrigation water. The water reserves in the ponds are very low, so in recent days, he has only been irrigating about once a week, and even then, he is very frugal.
"With this kind of heat, the pond will probably dry up in a few days, we're just waiting for the rain. Dragon fruit is quite drought-resistant, so hopefully it won't be affected," Mr. Thuan shared.
In Tan Phu Dong district, the supply of freshwater to the inland canals and ditches has been depleted for many months. Many canals and ditches in the area are now completely dry. Some canals still have water, but the salinity is very high.
Based on forecasts from specialized agencies regarding the development of saltwater intrusion during the 2023-2024 dry season, Tien Giang province has proactively implemented many solutions to protect production and provide drinking water for its people. For the eastern districts, the agricultural sector has actively operated to collect and store freshwater in the Go Cong Freshwater Project area. In addition, the province also operates a freshwater extraction system at Xuan Hoa sluice gate (Cho Gao district) to supplement freshwater for the Go Cong freshwater zone when salinity levels are low, serving agricultural production for the people. At the same time, it promotes and encourages people to store freshwater for production. As a result, people have actively stored freshwater to irrigate vegetables and fruit trees. During periods of severe drought and salinity, when many inland canals run dry, local authorities have mobilized people to use their own funds to pump freshwater from main canals to irrigate crops. Despite the current challenging water situation for agricultural production, thanks to proactive implementation of solutions, no production losses have been recorded so far in the eastern districts in particular and throughout the province in general. |
Lemongrass, a key crop in Tan Phu Dong district, is known for its drought and salinity tolerance, but it is gradually being affected. According to reports, due to the intense heat, a small number of newly planted lemongrass plants have suffered leaf burn because of a lack of irrigation water. Some farmers are reluctantly pumping high-salinity water to irrigate their lemongrass crops.
Mr. Vo Thanh Trung's family (Ly Quan 1 hamlet, Phu Dong commune) cultivates 6 acres of lemongrass. In recent days, he has been regularly pumping water from the irrigation canal to the lemongrass beds that were planted a few months ago. "Because the canal nearby was recently dredged, there's still water; otherwise, it would have all dried up by now."
However, the salinity in the water is also around 2-3 g/l. With this salinity, I only dare to pump water to irrigate the roots; if I water from above, the leaves will burn," Trung confided.
These days, drought and salinity are at their most severe. To protect their crops, farmers have been carefully conserving freshwater for irrigation, hoping that the rainy season will arrive soon.
ANH THU
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