Hopefully the drought and salinity worries will soon end
Many people in Cu lao Dai (including Quoi Thien and Thanh Binh communes in Vung Liem district, Vinh Long province) are very happy to hear that the project to build a salinity barrier culvert will start construction in the second quarter of 2025.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Qui - a farmer who has been growing durian in Quoi Thien commune for nearly 10 years - said that the annual drought and salinity season is always a big concern, because the salinity water once killed more than 60 durian trees in his family that were bearing fruit.
According to Mr. Qui, to cope with the lack of irrigation water for durian trees during the dry season, he invested nearly 10 million VND to buy rubber for water tanks. However, he still did not dare to water much but had to save money because he was afraid that he would run out of water, which somewhat affected his durian output.
"More than 4 years ago, seeing Thanh Binh commune build a solid salinity barrier, I hope Quoi Thien commune will also be invested in construction. But it took a long time to get the news that 4 salinity prevention sluices would start construction at the end of the second quarter of 2025," Mr. Qui added.
Also expressing his joy at hearing that the salinity prevention sluice in Quoi Thien commune will be started, Mr. Dang Van Thang in Thanh Binh commune said that the construction of the salinity prevention sluices in Quoi Thien commune is the joy of thousands of people in the island nation located in the middle of the Tien River.
"When the salinity-prevention sluices are completed, saline water will not penetrate Quoi Thien commune and will not follow the rivers and canals flowing into Thanh Binh commune as at present," Mr. Thang added.
Closing the salinity prevention system
Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Le Van Tham - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Vung Liem district - said that currently, the site clearance work for the salinity prevention culvert project has been basically completed and is currently in the stage of spending money to soon hand over the site to the construction unit.
"While waiting for the project to be implemented, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has proposed that the District People's Committee build a temporary dam to prevent saltwater intrusion, limiting the impact on hundreds of hectares of durian cultivation of the people", Mr. Tham added.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vinh - Deputy Director of the Management Board of the Investment Project for Construction of Agricultural Works and Rural Development of Vinh Long province - informed that the irrigation system project to prevent salinity and keep fresh in Thanh Binh and Quoi Thien communes has a total investment of up to 391 billion VND, starting construction in 2020.
According to Mr. Vinh, phase 1 of the project has completed the construction of 14.7km of dykes and 5 culverts in Thanh Binh commune, phase 2 with 4 culverts to prevent salinity in Quoi Thien commune is taking the final steps. Construction is expected to start at the end of the second quarter of 2025.
"When completed, the project will have a positive impact on preventing saline intrusion, protecting agricultural production and improving living conditions for people, especially helping to reduce irrigation costs for durian growing households," Mr. Vinh added.
