Trieu Phong residents worried about the deterioration of the internal canal system

After many years of solidification, the canal system has seriously degraded, causing water loss and affecting agricultural production, which is a current situation in Trieu Phong district. This makes farmers in the area very worried, because if there is no solution, the risk of water shortage for the 2024-2025 winter-spring rice crop is very likely to occur.

The intra-field canal system in An Dinh village, Trieu Long commune, Trieu Phong district is seriously degraded - Photo: TP

Living in An Dinh village, Trieu Long commune, Trieu Phong district for nearly 30 years, Do Thi Huong's family's economy depends mainly on 6 sao of rice. With her fields located near the canal system, she understands best the effects of the deterioration of these canals. For many years, she and her husband have been worried about the lack of water to irrigate the rice plants as the cracks and breaks in the canals flowing through the village are getting worse.

“The level III canal that flows in front of my house was built 30 years ago and has not been upgraded or repaired for a long time. Therefore, many sections of the concrete canal have been eroded, peeled off, and overgrown with grass, making water conduction ineffective. In recent years, every time the planting season is near, my family and other families in the village have had to work very hard to fill in the severely damaged sections and clear the grass to bring water into the fields. In the upcoming 2024-2025 winter-spring rice crop, if there are no timely remedial measures, we farmers will face even more difficulties,” Ms. Huong confided.

The rice production area of ​​An Mo Agricultural Service Cooperative (Trieu Long Commune) is 34.3 ha/2 crops/year. The total length of the solidified intra-field canal system managed by the Cooperative is more than 3 km. However, up to now, most of the canals have shown signs of "aging", degradation, causing water loss; some sections are no longer effective.

Director of An Mo Agricultural Service Cooperative Do Duc Trien said that when the production season begins, people often apply the method of sowing rice, so they need a stable water source to ensure effective irrigation and timely drainage. However, with the current situation, it is difficult to meet production requirements.

“The degraded canals make irrigation difficult. For example, the N73 canal that flows through the cooperative’s territory, when the rice is in bloom, we have to block the drainage canals to provide water for the fields. All of these are temporary solutions. With limited funds, the cooperative can only make patchwork improvements, so the efficiency is not high. In the long term, the cooperative and the people hope to receive attention from the authorities and local governments to have funds to upgrade and repair the canal system,” Mr. Trien expressed.

It is known that in Trieu Long commune, there is a system of level II and level III canals about 60 km long, serving irrigation for about 331 hectares of rice. The internal irrigation system has an important role in supplying and draining water, serving agricultural production. However, due to being built 20-30 years ago without regular maintenance and repair, it has now degraded, many sections of the canals are leaking, seriously eroded, and the risk of canal rupture can occur at any time.

Vice Chairman of Trieu Long Commune People's Committee Le Trong Khang said that, implementing Decree No. 62/2019/ND-CP dated July 11, 2019 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 35/2015/ND-CP of the Government on management and use of rice-growing land, every year, the locality provides financial support to people and cooperatives to temporarily repair some severely degraded canal sections; at the same time, it propagates and mobilizes people and cooperatives to use local resources to ensure irrigation. However, these solutions are only temporary. Villagers and local authorities have petitioned higher levels but have not been able to completely resolve the above situation.

“The urgent production requirements but the degraded constructions make irrigation regulation inadequate, especially for localities with large agricultural production areas like Trieu Long. The current intra-field canal system is degraded. Local people need water for production but the limited irrigation water source leads to unsatisfactory productivity and output. This situation has affected 250 hectares of rice in the area.

Recently, the commune has been allocated funds to repair canals but it cannot meet the actual needs of the locality. The commune government hopes that the superiors will study and have an optimal solution to quickly fix the degraded canal system, helping people feel secure in production," said Mr. Khang.

Information from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Trieu Phong district added that the total length of irrigation canals managed by communes in the area is 420.51 km, of which 261.05 km have been solidified, accounting for 62.08%. Of which, more than 100 km of canals have been solidified for more than 20 years, so they are now in a state of degradation; many important canals have been silted up, and drainage culverts with small apertures cannot drain large amounts of water locally.

Every year, the District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised the District People's Committee to pay attention to investing in repairing, upgrading, and dredging irrigation works to serve production in the commune from various capital sources. At the same time, it has coordinated with all levels to register the list of small-scale irrigation development, intra-field irrigation, and advanced irrigation, water saving in 2024 according to Resolution No. 69/2022/NQ-HDND dated October 18, 2022 of the People's Council of Quang Tri province and the support source for the collective economic development program, agricultural cooperatives.

However, due to limited funding, the district only supports the repair of seriously damaged areas in some main canal sections in the area. The district has directed localities to mobilize all resources to continue investing in and upgrading canals.

Faced with the current deterioration of the intra-field canal system in Trieu Phong district, local authorities and relevant agencies need to pay attention to early plans to upgrade and repair sections and canals through production areas to provide stable water supply and effective drainage, effectively serving agricultural production.

Truc Phuong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/nguoi-dan-trieu-phong-lo-lang-vi-he-thong-kenh-muong-noi-dong-xuong-cap-190741.htm