Roundup: Vietnam's Mekong Delta likely to hit agricultural targets despite H1 losses in 2016

Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta, the largest in the region and known as the country's "rice bowl," is striving to realize agricultural targets set for 2016 amid harsh drought conditions and saline intrusion.

So said information released at a conference on reviewing tasks of the first half (H1) of 2016 and implementing tasks for the second half, by Vietnam's Southwest Steering Committee on Monday.

In H1 this year, as the El Nino phenomenon reached its peak after 100 years, agricultural production and lives of local citizens are being seriously affected by heat waves, drought, and saline intrusion, reported Vietnamese government's e-Portal on Monday, citing reports by localities and ministries.

During the most recent drought and saline intrusion, in some regions, the saltwater has intruded nearly 80 km inland. The highest salinity has been recorded at 23 per thousand, which at such rates make agricultural production an impossibility.

During the winter-spring rice crop of 2015-2016, the delta planted rice in an area of more than 1.5 million hectares. However, the productivity reached only 6,640 kg per hectare, down nearly 500 kg per hectare compared to the previous crop, while the output was 10 million tons, down nearly one million tons.

Meanwhile, according to the latest report by Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), as of the end of June 2016, the shrimp production area, which was damaged by saline intrusion, covered some 83,000 hectares.

At the same time, around 232,000 hectares of rice, 6,561 hectares of crops, and over 10,800 hectares of fruit and industrial trees have been damaged, while approximately 226,000 families lacked clean water.

It is estimated that agricultural losses of the Mekong Delta amounted to 4.678 trillion Vietnamese dong (209.77 million U.S. dollars).

Saline intrusion and drought has resulted in a decrease of 0.7 percent year-on-year in Vietnam's farm growth during the January-June period.

Amid the dire environmental situation, from late 2015 to the first half of 2016, MARD and localities have implemented measures to prevent, combat and adjust to saline intrusion through irrigation solutions.

Permanent and temporary dikes have been built to help reduce saline intrusion, according to MARD.

Speaking at the conference, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue urged localities in the Mekong Delta to develop plantation areas and fishery aquaculture to compensate for losses in H1 due to the drought and saline intrusion.

MARD Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said that rice output for this year's fall-winter crop is forecast to hit over 9 million tons.

The Mekong Delta's rice exports in the fourth quarter of 2016 is expected to flourish as rice exporting orders with China, which accounts for 70 percent of total export volume, will be fulfilled.

This will help make up for losses in H1, said Nam, adding that exports of seafood and vegetables had also seen an uptick.

MARD said it believed that with such optimistic signs in weather development and prices of agro-forestry-fishery export items, Vietnam's Mekong Delta will achieve its farming targets in 2016. Endit