According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, about 319 hectares of crops belonging to 627 households in Long Hung, Long Dinh, Tan Phuoc 3, Chau Thanh, Tan Huong communes, and Trung An Ward have been affected as of July 15. Preliminary estimates put total losses at more than VND20 billion.
The first signs of damage emerged on July 6, when vegetables began showing symptoms including yellowing leaves, leaf scorch, wilting, and dieback. The problem quickly spread across intensive farming areas, affecting a wide range of crops, such as peppermint, perilla, rice paddy herb, basil, Vietnamese coriander, mustard greens, and water spinach. Water hyacinths and other aquatic vegetation along canal banks were also found dead or severely damaged.
Vegetables suffered the greatest impact, with more than 227 hectares affected, followed by nearly 68.1 hectares of rice and 23.6 hectares of fruit trees and nursery plants.
Many farmers have suspended irrigation and fertilizer application, fearing further losses. They have urged authorities to determine the cause as quickly as possible and provide financial and technical support so they can rehabilitate their land and resume production.
Mr. Le Ha Luan, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, said initial assessments found that every affected field relied on water pumped directly from local canals and waterways. By contrast, farms irrigated with water stored in ponds, reservoirs or other private sources reported no similar damage.
"This provides strong preliminary evidence that the incident is linked to the quality of irrigation water drawn directly from the canal system," he said.
Water samples collected from 23 locations between July 9 and 12 showed multiple indicators that exceeded Vietnam's national environmental standards. Tests showed severe organic pollution, with low dissolved oxygen levels and excessive concentrations of ammonium, nitrite, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and iron. These conditions are believed to have placed crops under severe physiological stress and caused extensive root damage.
Provincial authorities have advised farmers to immediately stop pumping canal water onto their fields and suspend harvesting and marketing vegetables from affected areas until further notice.
At the same time, agencies have removed dead aquatic plants to restore water flow and coordinated with Tien Giang Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. to operate the regional irrigation system in an effort to flush and improve water quality throughout the affected canal network.
Laboratories are expediting analysis of additional samples to identify the definitive cause of the contamination and develop technical guidance for restoring agricultural production.
The Dong Thap People's Committee has also instructed provincial police to investigate potential illegal wastewater discharges and strictly handle any violations of environmental protection laws. Meanwhile, relevant agencies are reviewing legal provisions to formulate financial assistance packages to help affected farmers recover quickly and resume production.
