In Binh Dinh Province, farmers in mountainous areas have been trying to seek water source to maintain production and rescue rice fields and other crops.
The 47 hectare Cha Rang field in Binh Thuan Commune, Tay Son District has kept falling in severe water shortage during the dry season for the past 10 years. Farmers have just cultivated rice in the rainy season and leaved the field fallow during the dry season.
Local farmers have proposed local authorities to tackle the issue in vain although the field is adjacent to N24 Irrigation Canal which takes water from Van Phong Spillway. In addition, ten of hectares of rice fields in the adjacent area is in dire need of water. Many rice fields have been withered.
63 year old farmer Nguyen Thai Hiep from Thuan Hanh Hamlet said that since early 2019 dreadful drought has been ravaging farming production. Even underground water has run depleted. Villagers have been short of domestic water and asked for water from other villages for their daily activities and cattle.
Head of Thuong Son Hamlet in Tay Thuan Commune Le Van Dao said that hundreds of hectares of rice have been thirsty, forcing farmers to ask for water from An Khe-Ka Nak hydropower plant in the winter-spring crop. They are likely to be fallow in the coming summer autumn crop. In the meantime, An Khe-Ka Nak hydropower plant is in danger of water shortage and forced to stop releasing water for people in Tay Thuan.
