With reservoirs running low, farmers in Nghe An province install portable pumps to save their rice crops.
The continuous heatwave over the past few days has caused many reservoirs in Nghe An province to run dry, forcing farmers to use portable pumps to save their rice crops.
A visit to Thai Son commune, Do Luong district at this time shows that some rice and crop areas are experiencing water shortages. In Hamlet 2, Thai Son commune, a temporary pumping station is operating at full capacity. Mr. Hoang Van Co - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Son commune said: Due toreservoirYen Trach commune is experiencing drought conditions, failing to ensure sufficient irrigation water for the summer-autumn rice crop. As a result, the commune has had to install mobile pumps to irrigate 40 out of 345 hectares of rice fields.
The pump's capacity reaches 100 m³.3Water is drawn from pumping station No. 1 at a rate of 7/8 hours, pumped into the Phu Nu canal, and from there, mobile pumps are used to irrigate the rice fields. However, the current difficulty is due to the intense heat; each pumping cycle lasts 7-8 days, and the fields dry up as soon as the pumps stop. Furthermore, the mobile pumps are old and dilapidated, frequently breaking down and affecting irrigation.
Mr. Nguyen Ba Chau, Deputy Head of the Agriculture Department of Do Luong District, said: The entire district has more than 120 reservoirs of various sizes, serving over 2,500 hectares of rice fields. However, currently, most reservoirs only reach 20-30% of their capacity, with some even completely dry. Currently, over 300 hectares of rice fields in the district are affected by drought in the communes of Giang Son Dong, Giang Son Tay, Bai Son, etc.
To cope with the drought, Do Luong district directed communes to proactively prepare mobile pumps, small mini-pumps, and pump water from some streams and dead-end rivers to supplement irrigation for the lake area. However, given the situation...hot weatherIf this continues in the coming days, the area of rice fields affected by drought will continue to increase.
The intense heatwave that has lasted for the past few days has caused many rice fields in Nghi Loc district to dry up and crack. At Khe Cai reservoir in Nghi Lam commune, mobile electric pumps have been deployed to draw water from the reservoir to save the rice crops. Mr. Vu Dinh Dong, Director of Nghi Lam Agricultural Service Cooperative, said: The Khe Cai reservoir, which irrigates nearly 100 hectares of rice, has now run out of water. The cooperative has deployed two mobile electric pumps with a capacity of 30 cubic meters to pump water from the reservoir.3/hour for watering rice.
Water is brought directly to the rice fields by cooperative officials in coordination with the villages. However, if the weather is hot and sunny, the reservoir will dry up in about 2-3 days, failing to provide irrigation water for the rice crop, which is currently in the heading stage, posing a high risk of crop failure.
According to a report from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghi Loc district, this year's summer-autumn rice crop in Nghi Loc district covers over 4,900 hectares. Due to prolonged hot weather, over 250 hectares of rice in the district are currently suffering from drought.
The current challenge is that out of over 40 reservoirs in Nghi Loc district, most have dried up. The district is focusing on directing irrigation units and communes to utilize surface water sources such as ponds, lakes, and dead-end rivers, as well as return water sources, using mobile diesel pumps and mini electric pumps to pump water from some streams and return water to supplement the reservoir areas.
According to information from the Department of Irrigation, as of now, Nghe An province has 1,061 reservoirs, of which over 800 have water levels below 50% of their capacity. Of these, 108 are managed by local authorities, and 18 are managed by irrigation limited liability companies. Currently, many large reservoirs in the area are running low on water, such as the Ve Vung reservoir in Dong Thanh commune, with a capacity of 22 million cubic meters, now only at 30% capacity, and the Xuan Duong reservoir in Dien Phu commune (Dien Chau district), with a capacity of 11 million cubic meters.3The water supply, now at only about 35% of its original capacity...
To proactively prevent and combat drought, the Nghe An Irrigation Sub-Department has advised local irrigation units to strictly manage water resources in reservoirs, develop water release plans that are economical and scientific, and irrigate according to the principle of "irrigating higher areas first, then lower areas." They can utilize water from dead-end rivers and return water sources using mobile pumps to supplement water supply to reservoir areas.
