Farmers tend the autumn – winter rice crop in Kiên Giang Province’s Tân Hiệp District. – VNA/VNS Photo Lê Huy Hải

HCM CITY – The flooding season in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta is expected to have lower levels of floods this year, bringing in less aquatic resources and sediment to fields, according to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.

Farmers can use more fertiliser to grow rice after the flooding season, but this will increase production costs.

Saltwater intrusion from the sea through river mouths, which normally occurs in the dry season, is expected to be less severe this year. The storm impact this year will also be less severe. 

Because of these factors, the delta is expected to have favourable conditions for growing the autumn – winter rice crop. 

The delta is planting 700,000ha of autumn – winter rice in July and August, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Plant Cultivation Department. 

The delta’s flooding season is caused by the rising level of the Mekong River in the rainy season, which normally lasts between May and December. The delta’s rainy season came early this year and is expected to end by the end of November, according to the ministry’s Irrigation Department.

Đỗ Đức Dũng, head of the institute, said the delta’s flood-prevention dyke system protects crop cultivation in the flooding season. – VNS