One of the effective methods in recent years of Ke Sach district (Soc Trang province) is that the locality has used social networking platforms Zalo and Facebook to provide information about drought and salinity.
Mr. Nguyen Van Ut in An My commune (Ke Sach district, Soc Trang province) said that since joining the Zalo group to provide information on drought and salinity in the commune, he no longer measures the salinity in the river himself but only focuses on taking care of the fruit garden.
"Previously, during the dry season and saltwater intrusion, I had to measure the salinity twice a day. For the past 3 years, since joining the Zalo group, all information about drought and saltwater intrusion has been continuously updated by the local government, so my family has proactively reinforced the dike and stored fresh water. Thanks to that, more than 5,000 square meters of jackfruit trees have always grown well and not been affected by saltwater intrusion," said Mr. Ut.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ke Sach district, all 13 communes and towns in the district currently have Zalo groups to report salinity. Depending on the geographical location, each locality will establish appropriate salinity measurement teams, with the number of members ranging from several hundred to 1,000 people. The staff in charge will measure at key locations twice a day. The results are updated on the Zalo groups of the district and communes and towns.
Mr. Vu Ba Quan - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ke Sach district - informed that the advantage of social networks is that information is sent to many members at the same time without cost. Notifications, forecasts, recommendations, and instructions on measures to cope with drought and salinity are fully displayed with attached documents and images of the scene.
"On these groups, farmers can interact directly, exchange and discuss information related to drought and salinity response, thereby helping farmers promptly and effectively apply drought and salinity prevention measures," said Mr. Quan.
Currently, at important locations, water sources in Ke Sach district are also equipped with monitoring systems. These stations will automatically monitor surface water parameters such as water level, salinity and pH. Data is transmitted directly from the measuring head to users in real time. Through the software, managers can accurately grasp the water situation anywhere and anytime. This method helps reduce the pressure on salinity measuring staff a lot.
In addition, the district's agricultural sector also guides people to install automatic water monitoring applications over time (Mekong, Cuu Long Water Resources, Mekong Delta Irrigation). Timely information on water quality has helped farmers proactively and effectively respond to saltwater intrusion.
Instructing people on how to use software on natural disaster prevention, natural disaster risk warning, automatic rain measurement... Through the above applications, people can participate in providing information related to natural disasters occurring in their locality to relevant agencies; receive early warning information about possible natural disasters to have timely response plans. Information synthesized from the software will be analyzed and used as a basis for local disaster prevention and mitigation planning.
