The Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Soc Trang province has just announced a number of proactive solutions to prevent drought and salinity in the dry season of 2025.
It is necessary to strengthen the monitoring of saltwater intrusion, check the salinity of water sources, and promptly inform localities and people to be proactive in taking water for irrigation.
Recommend cooperatives, cooperative groups and people to plant seeds according to the recommended schedule of professional agencies.
Farmers are advised not to sow late in the Winter-Spring crop in areas affected by drought and salinity such as Long Phu, Tran De, Soc Trang City and My Xuyen; for Ke Sach district and part of Chau Thanh district, only when the freshwater source in the canals is sufficient for production can they decide to sow.
It is recommended to change the crop structure to short-term dry crops that require less water. It is necessary to check and reinforce embankments, culverts, and ponds to prevent salt water from leaking into the canal and ditch system. People use water economically by using the alternating flooding and drying irrigation method, and need to check the salinity before pumping it into the fields.
According to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, coastal provinces such as Long An, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang are forecasted to have high salinity and prolong it in the first half of January, the salinity line of 4g/l can penetrate 45 - 55km deep. Therefore, it is necessary to take advantage of water storage as soon as possible. To ensure production in the dry months, it is necessary to strengthen salinity monitoring and update forecast bulletins regularly.
Unusual saline intrusion in the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta may affect water resources and production in coastal irrigation systems such as Go Cong, North Ben Tre, Tra Vinh coastal areas and Long Phu - Tiep Nhat system. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare response plans and store water appropriately before February 2025 when water resources are not affected by salinity, especially in fruit-growing areas of Chau Thanh, Cho Lach, Mo Cay Bac, Mo Cay Nam districts (Ben Tre province); Ke Sach district (Soc Trang province).
In 2024, Soc Trang province will have about 600 hectares of late winter-spring rice damaged due to lack of irrigation water and the effects of drought and salinity, mainly concentrated in Tran De and Long Phu districts. This is the rice area that farmers sowed outside the plan, not following the recommendations of the agricultural sector.
