Advanced irrigation, water saving to cope with drought and salinity

Water-saving irrigation is now widely used in vegetable growing areas in the province.

Due to the impact of drought, saltwater intrusion, irrigation water conditions in the dry season are increasingly difficult and due to many economic and environmental benefits, recently in the province, advanced irrigation and water saving (TKN) has developed rapidly.

The provincial authorities have been implementing many policies, projects and programs to promote the development of this form of irrigation.

Area of water-saving irrigation increased

TKN irrigation in Vinh Long appeared in the province very early, through programs, demonstration models, projects, research topics, scientific and technological trials... on the development of varieties and crops of specialized management agencies, institutes, schools, especially the agricultural extension programs of the province and the country.

Gradually, it was widely applied in agricultural production organizations (cooperatives, cooperatives, enterprises...) and households with irrigation needs.

Specifically, in 2006, in the province, there was the My Hoa Pomelo Production and Consumption Cooperative (My Hoa Commune, Binh Minh Town) that irrigated 95 hectares of Pomelo with sprinklers. In 2009, there was the Binh Hoa Phuoc Rambutan Cooperative (Binh Hoa Phuoc Commune, Long Ho District) that irrigated 43 hectares of rambutan trees with TKN irrigation and 390 hectares of rice applied water-saving irrigation in the form of alternating wet and dry irrigation in Vung Liem District...

Implementing Decision No. 1788/QD-BNN-TCTL dated May 19, 2015 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development promulgating the Action Plan for developing advanced irrigation and TKN for upland crops to serve the restructuring of the irrigation sector, in the period of 2015-2020, with technical support and part of the State's funding through models, agricultural development projects, scientific research topics, ... production organizations and households in the province have boldly invested in developing models using TKN irrigation technology for crops.

At the end of 2020, the province had 200 hectares of rice and more than 9,600 hectares of upland crops (accounting for 10.44% of the total upland crop area in the province) applying TKN irrigation. By the end of 2022, this number was nearly 13,300 hectares (accounting for 14.4%).

The area of crops irrigated with TKN is concentrated in the districts of Vung Liem (more than 7,200ha), Long Ho (more than 3,500ha), Mang Thit (nearly 900ha). Most of them are used in the form of outdoor sprinkler irrigation (more than 13,200ha), the rest are used in greenhouses and net houses (nearly 22ha), and drip irrigation is more than 5ha. There are 32 enterprises and cooperatives in the province that have applied TKN irrigation techniques on an area of more than 600ha for crops such as cucumber, melon, mango, rambutan, dragon fruit, grapefruit, and sweet potato.

The installation of TKN irrigation systems, especially outdoor sprinkler irrigation systems, is increasingly popular, easy to do and low cost.

Many households have invested in buying plastic pipes, nozzles, pumps, etc. on the market at a cost of about 4 million VND to have a TKN irrigation system for 1 hectare of garden/farm, helping them save a lot of labor and time on irrigation, increasing crop productivity. The State's investment is higher, about 10 million VND to have an irrigation system for the same area.

According to the assessment of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the area of TKN irrigation on crops in Vinh Long is still low compared to the total existing crop area. Most of the investment is done by people themselves, buying equipment to install irrigation systems produced domestically at low prices. Although it saves costs, the quality of use is not high.

As for using standard TKN irrigation technology, such as Israeli irrigation technology, the cost is higher and the quality is better. This technology is often applied in agricultural production organizations or models, pilot projects, and agricultural extension demonstrations invested and supported by the State.

However, due to the high cost, investing in this standard system increases production costs... so many households invest in installing their own irrigation systems.

Promote advanced, water-saving irrigation

To encourage people and organizations to apply TKN irrigation techniques, on October 17, 2019, the Provincial People's Council issued Resolution No. 203/2019/NQ-HDND stipulating specific support levels for the development of small-scale irrigation, in-field irrigation and advanced irrigation, TKN and specific policies to support the development of small-scale irrigation, in-field irrigation and advanced irrigation, TKN in the province.

In which, individuals (with irrigation area of 0.3ha or more) and grassroots irrigation organizations (with irrigation area of 2ha or more) are supported with 50% of the cost of materials, construction machinery and equipment to invest in building a TKN irrigation system for upland crops (support level not exceeding 40 million VND/ha).

On September 23, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2527/QD-UBND promulgating the Plan for developing small-scale irrigation and intra-field irrigation (including the development of TKN irrigation) for the period 2021-2025 with a total investment capital needed to support TKN irrigation of 240 billion VND out of a total of 779.18 billion VND of capital to implement the plan. By 2025, the whole province strives to have 100% of rice-growing land area proactively supplied with water (of which over 5% applies advanced farming methods), 25% of the area of mainly dry and concentrated crops is irrigated with TKN (equivalent to 22,200 hectares).

Farmers in Tan Long commune (Mang Thit) grow jackfruit on raised beds with a water-saving irrigation system installed.

In the coming time, to promote the development of TKN, the Plan to implement the High-tech Agricultural Development Program for the period 2021-2030, the Plan to implement the Strategy for Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 and the Program for building new rural areas in the province for the period 2021-2025 also propose projects and models for agricultural production development that integrate the development of TKN irrigation solutions, especially smart irrigation system models in building "smart hamlets" models in model new rural construction communes.

Thereby, it aims to partially support and create conditions for households and production organizations to cooperate with the State and functional agencies in the province to invest in expanding this technology, contributing to promoting the sustainable development of agricultural production in the province.

Article and photos: TRUNG CHANH

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