Vast rice fields in the central region are suffering from seriousdrought and the losses are estimated to reach 2.5 trillion VND.

InNghe An province, farmers cannot grow rice on more than 26,000 ha dueto the shortage of water.

The scorching heat has dried out manymajor reservoirs in Nghe An, some losing as much as 60-70 percent oftheir water.

Local people in mountainous areas of the provincehave also grappled with a severe shortage of water for daily use.

Similarto Nghe An province, Ha Tinh province has also reported that 14,000 haof paddy fields are affected.

Ha Tinh predicts that its ricepaddies will be devastated if rain does not come in July.

Theprovince plans to grow rice on 41,000 ha and subsidiary crops on another17,000 ha, however, it fears that the lack of water will restrict this.

Atleast 120,000 people in Huong Khe and Huong Son districts arestruggling with insufficient water supplies and tankers have beendeployed to transport water from Ke Go reservoir to them.

TheCentral Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre predicts that thedrought could be worse in July as it has seen no sign of upcomingtorrential rain.

If rain does not come very soon, the amount ofagricultural land affected by the drought in the central region hasrisen to 71,000 ha of summer-autumn rice crop out of 240,000 ha,according to the Irrigation Department under the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development.

One June 25, the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development met with these central provinces to look at waysof addressing the situation, saying that the Government will provideassistance to help these localities deal with the drought./.