Floods inundate Mekong paddy

KIEN GIANG (VNS)— Days of heavy rain in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta's Kien Giang Province have inundated over 31,000ha of rice, said Kien Giang's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The department also said that 6,000ha of the newly seeded autumn-winter rice crop were in danger of being completely destroyed in An Bien, An Minh and Vinh Thuan districts.

Local farmers now have to pump flood water out of their fields to minimise their losses. However, many farmers said if it continued to rain heavily, they would suffer huge losses because it would be too difficult to pump out all the water.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked relevant agencies to speed up the building of provincial irrigation systems in U Minh Thuong District and reinforce the dyke system to better protect crops from natural disasters.

Farmers in Kien Giang province have planted 45,800ha of 10th Month rice crop in An Minh, An Bien, Vinh Thuan, U Minh Thuong, Go Quao and Ha Tien districts. They have also sown 8,894ha of early autumn-winter crop in U Minh Thuong and Chau Thanh districts.

According to the Plant Protection Department, farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta - the country's rice granary - will plant 600,000ha, equal to last year's crop.

So far, they have planted 400,000ha of autumn-winter rice.

Tens of thousands of hectares of autumn winter rice crop in the Mekong that were ready for harvest have also been flooded or flattened. This has reduced output and increased harvesting costs. — VNS