Irrigation facilities have helped increase the area of rice in theMekong Delta region from 3.4 million hectares in 1997 to 4.2 millionhectares in 2013, according to the Steering Committee for theSouthwestern region.

The committee said the regionharvested 24.8 million tonnes of rice in 2013, up 11 million tonnescompared with the rice output in 1997 when irrigation facilities had yetto be built.

Statistics released by the Southern IrrigationPlanning Institute show that the region has more than 42,000k ofcanals, over 80 culverts and some 200 irrigation stations with a totalcapacity to water 81,620 hectares.
 
Thanks to its betterirrigation system, the region has seen its agro-forestry-fisheryproduction value increase nearly 7 percent each year, the institutesaid.

Irrigation facilities in the low-lying area of DongThap Muoi have prevented floods from spreading via borders whileensuring the safety for the summer-autumn harvest which usually falls inthe flood season.

Meanwhile, in Long Xuyen Quadrangle,irrigation facilities have been upgraded to control the annual flood inAugust and provide water for summer-autumn and winter-spring seasons.

Presently, irrigation facilities in Ca Mau peninsula and to the left of the Tien River are being upgraded.

Such facilities have ensured water for about 10 million people or 66 percent of the region’s population.-VNA