Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development directs drought and saltwater intrusion prevention in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - On the afternoon of April 6, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh and the Ministry's working delegation had a working session with the People's Committee of Nghe An province on the content of drought and saltwater intrusion prevention. Working with the delegation on the side of Nghe An province were comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and leaders of departments and branches.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh highly appreciated Nghe An's drought prevention direction.

This year, the area likely to suffer from drought in Nghe An is more than 21,300 hectares, including in districts such as: Do Luong 410 hectares, Yen Thanh 660 hectares, Dien Chau 830 hectares, Quynh Luu 1,640 hectares, Nam Dan 800 hectares, Quy Hop 150 hectares...

Nghe An has issued many directives and telegrams to strengthen drought and saltwater intrusion prevention, develop water supply plans for the 2016 spring crop production and arrange for crop restructuring; operate Mu Ba and Nam Dan sluice gates to ensure maximum water intake from the system. Regularly check salinity on canals and suction tanks to protect crops. According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nghe An currently has 625 reservoirs, however, the reservoir water level only reaches about 30-60% of the design capacity. The water level at key works such as Nam Dan sluice is currently 0.7m/design: 1.15m, Ben Thuy sluice 0.15m/design 0.7m; Nghi Quang sluice 0.2m/design 0.5m, Dien Thanh sluice 0.75m/0.92m.

Comrade Dinh Viet Hong gave his opinion on the drought prevention direction of Nghe An.

Faced with the situation of drought and saltwater intrusion, Nghe An proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to support funding for drought prevention for the spring crop and support investment in the construction of a number of irrigation works.

At the meeting, representatives of leading units under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development such as the General Department of Irrigation, the Institute of Irrigation Planning... gave their opinions on solutions to combat drought and saltwater intrusion...

Comrade Nguyen Van Lap, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, reported on the situation of drought and saltwater intrusion.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh highly appreciated the timely, drastic and creative direction of the People's Committee of Nghe An province and the agricultural sector in the work of drought and saltwater intrusion prevention. In the context of large production areas and unsynchronized infrastructure. It is forecasted that this year will be a very severe drought, affecting rice production, especially summer-autumn production. Therefore, the direction of summer-autumn production is very important, especially in the season to compete with the weather and floods.

For tea and other industrial crops, the province needs to advise and have policies for people to fight drought, ensuring people's production. Continue to promote the conversion of drought-resistant crop structures and prevent pests and diseases. The Ministry will consider local recommendations and be responsible for supporting localities in the work of fighting drought and saltwater intrusion. The Ministry will be responsible for supporting, sharing and accompanying local recommendations.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inspects drought work in Hung Nguyen. Photo by Thanh Tam.

Pearl