Rising Seas, Saltwater Intrusion Forcing Shifts In Mekong Delta - Rice, Shrimp, Ginger All In Play

[hatrack]

EDIT

The Mekong Delta is the country’s rice basket, and Vietnam is the world’s second largest rice exporter. With soil and crops already being damaged by saltwater intrusion, farmers and development agencies are troubleshooting ways to cope.

Some rice paddies in Thanh Hoa Province have been converted to shrimp ponds, according to Nguyen Viet Nghi, CARE’s project manager of a community-based mangrove reforestation programme in Thanh Hoa. “It was done by farmers themselves, and CARE is planning to support them combine mangroves and shrimp development in their ponds,” said Nghi.

It is a trend seen across Vietnam: aquaculture has skyrocketed from 641,900 hectares in 2000 to more than 1 million hectares in 2010, and shrimp farming accounts for the bulk of the growth, nearly doubling over the past decade to 645,000 hectares.

While most aquaculture is in the Mekong Delta, even in Thanh Hoa on the central coast, farming in water grew from 10,600 hectares in 2000 to 13,900 a decade later.

EDIT

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94552

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. When life hands you lemons.........

hopefully the change to aquaculture will be somewhat long lasting.......

[Bob Wallace]

2. We're handing ourselves lemons...

"life" isn't playing a role in what we are doing.

Salt water replacing fresh ground water means that all around the globe we are loosing fresh water aquifers.