Improving capacity of irrigation sector

In 2015, although the difficulties caused by El Nino and saltwater intrusion were overcome, and agricultural production requirements were basically met, the irrigation sector still needs to continue to improve its capacity to meet agricultural production requirements and respond to climate change. This was the request of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang at the conference summarizing irrigation work in 2015 and deploying plans for 2016, which recently took place in Hanoi.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang gave a speech at the conference.

In 2015, with the close direction of the Government, the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the efforts of the units, the irrigation sector overcame difficulties caused by the impact of El Nino weather phenomenon and saltwater intrusion, basically meeting the requirements of agricultural production.

Notable results include coordinating with Vietnam Electricity Group to regulate hydroelectric reservoirs to supplement water for downstream areas to ensure timely irrigation for more than 631,000 hectares of rice in the Red River Delta; advising leaders of the Ministry and localities to deploy solutions to prevent and combat drought, use water economically and effectively; regulating water in river basins in the southern provinces, supplementing water sources to combat drought and saltwater intrusion.

Along with that, the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control is being disseminated; the development of a Ministry-level natural disaster prevention plan is basically completed. Up to now, 18 provinces and cities have developed provincial-level natural disaster prevention plans.

However, in addition to the achievements, the implementation of the Project to Improve the Efficiency of Management and Exploitation of Irrigation Works in Localities is still slow. Some localities have not even paid attention to developing and implementing specific plans, lacking mechanisms, policies and funding for implementation.

Many irrigation works are seriously degraded, significantly affecting the restructuring process of the irrigation sector in particular and the agricultural sector in general.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang said that 2016 is of utmost importance in the context of the agricultural sector in general and the irrigation sector in particular undergoing restructuring.

To meet the requirements, the industry needs to continue to innovate in the direction of solving key and urgent tasks. In which, it needs to overcome the limitations that are happening within the industry. The task of natural disaster prevention must be calculated fundamentally and long-term in 2016 and the following years.

Deputy Minister Hoang Van Thang emphasized: In 2016, the irrigation sector needs to accelerate the implementation of tasks to develop the socio-economy, especially the agricultural economy across the country. In particular, the task of natural disaster prevention must not only be done well in 2016, but also must be calculated long-term in the following years.

According toGovernment.vn