Shortcomings in flood control in agricultural areas.

(Baonghean) - Nghe An currently has over 20,000 hectares of land dedicated to vegetable and crop production, playing a crucial role in the province's agricultural output. However, for various reasons, the irrigation system for these crop-growing areas has not received adequate investment and still has many shortcomings. This not only hinders crop planning but also results in annual losses of tens of billions of dong due to flooding and drought in these areas.

Residents of Hamlet 17, Nghi Thuan Commune (Nghi Loc District) are draining water to replant corn that died due to flooding.

After several days of rain (September 13-14), two plots of corn, sown nearly a month ago, belonging to Ms. Le Thi Phuong's family in Hamlet 17, Nghi Trung Commune (Nghi Loc District) were completely destroyed. While using a hoe to clear the drainage channels, Ms. Phuong said: “Before the rain, the corn was growing well and had six leaves. But after being flooded for three days, by the afternoon of September 14, when the water receded, the corn had all withered and died. We need to clear the drainage channels and wait for the sun to come out so the soil can dry before we can replant…”

The recent heavy rains not only almost completely destroyed the summer-autumn rice crop in Nghi Trung commune, which was just beginning to sprout and fill with milk, and was expected to be ready for harvest in about 10 days, but also caused severe damage to the commune's winter crop.

Mr. Tran Hai Duong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, said: The main drainage canal in the commune is the Rao Truong canal, running from Vinh Airport, through Nghi Lien, Nghi An, and Nghi Long communes, to Nghi Xa and then down to the Nghi Quang wharf to drain into the sea. Although it is a main and important canal, currently only more than 1 km of this drainage canal has been concreted at both ends in Nghi Trung commune, while the middle section is still an earthen canal. In the past few days of rain, the commune had to rent machinery costing tens of millions of dong to remove water hyacinths that had flowed in from other communes, causing blockages in the canal's flow.

Nghi Loc is one of the localities with a large area of ​​cultivated land in the province, with over 4,000 hectares, including nearly 3,000 hectares of peanuts and over 1,000 hectares of various vegetables.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quang, Head of the District's Agriculture Department, only a few communes in the district have high-lying, well-drained soil. Almost all other communes in the district, located east of National Highway 1A such as Nghi Long, Nghi Trung, Nghi Thuan, etc., face significant difficulties in drainage, not only during the winter crop but also the spring crop.

After 2000, as part of the province's drainage project for agricultural areas, all major canals in these areas, such as the Nha Bien canal, Nha Na canal, East Nghi Phong canal, West Nghi Phong canal, etc., were basically widened. However, only about 10% of the length in critical locations has been concreted, while the rest remain earthen canals.

Excavators are clearing water hyacinths that have clogged the main drainage canal, which runs through several communes in Nghi Loc district and Vinh City, due to flooding.

In Dien Chau district, there are 55 km of main drainage canals serving the district's agricultural areas. To date, thanks to funding from various projects, apart from the branch canals which are mostly still earthen, approximately 40% of the length has been concreted, only in important sections. The rest only involves the construction of bridges and culverts over the canals and dredging.

Mr. Cao Van Thai, from the District Agriculture Department, stated: "Most of the communes in the agricultural areas face significant drainage difficulties, especially in Dien Thinh commune, which has two canals leading to the sea but are currently unable to drain due to severe siltation. Every year during the rainy season, flooding occurs not only in the fields but also in residential areas. Furthermore, the outlets to the sea are frequently silted up, as sand from the sea rises during the dry season, blocking the underground inlets. The number of these underground inlets is so large that dredging is not yet possible."

The province currently has 800 km of drainage canals serving agricultural areas, of which only 200 km (mainly main canals) have been reinforced, while the rest are earthen canals within the fields. Due to untimely disbursement of funds, the irrigation and drainage projects in agricultural areas are behind schedule, have low drainage capacity, and the lack of uniformity in the drainage canal system limits effective water drainage.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Van, Deputy Head of the Provincial Irrigation Department, in order to address the shortcomings in irrigation for vegetable production in the long term, it is necessary to plan and build more small-scale irrigation works, especially in areas with large model fields and concentrated production zones.

At the same time, local authorities need to get involved, promoting and encouraging people to actively participate in the campaign to improve irrigation systems in the fields more effectively.

However, while the drainage system for all crops remains challenging and requires substantial funding, technical solutions need to be prioritized. Some agricultural experts recommend that, to improve crop production efficiency in areas with poor drainage, some localities should advance their planting schedules.

People in Dien Thanh commune are uprooting peanut plants that died due to flooding in order to replant them.

For alluvial or hilly areas in Quynh Luu, Thanh Chuong, and Do Luong districts, it is necessary to move the planting season forward from August and as early as possible because the rain mainly comes after September 2nd, by which time the crops will be able to withstand floods.

In the areas along the Lam River, depending on the specific terrain, planting in deep floodplains is slowed down, and in some low-lying areas like Anh Son and Tan Ky, planting has to wait until after the flood has subsided, or until after October, to minimize damage.

Phu Huong