Drought, Salinity Intrusion and Land Use Change in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

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Drought, Salinity Intrusion and Land Use Change in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Co-authored by Doan Van Binh, Dung Duc Tran and colleagues, this iScience study combines discharge and salinity monitoring with satellite-derived land use data to trace drought and salinity impacts and pathways to agricultural resilience. Doan Van Binh, Dung Duc Tran (HAPRI Senior Research Associate) and co-authors. Two Vietnamese farmers, seen from behind, stand at the muddy edge of a lush Mekong Delta rice paddy beside a narrow irrigation canal examining young rice and water, while a small boat moves in the distance among fields and wetland trees with open sky upper-right.

Drought, Salinity Intrusion and Land Use Change in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

www.hapri.org

Dung Duc Tran — Senior Research Associate

A study co-authored by Dung Duc Tran (HAPRI Senior Research Associate) and colleagues combines discharge and salinity monitoring with satellite-derived land use data to trace the long-term impacts of drought and salinity intrusion in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, and identifies the dry seasons when those impacts were highest. The authors say the results provide evidence-based insights for managing these pressures and strengthening agricultural resilience.

Context

Drought and salinity intrusion, which the paper abbreviates as DSI, bring dry-season losses for agriculture in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, and local governments have had to respond to them. The study asks how these pressures have shown up in land use change over the long term, a question that matters for agricultural resilience in the delta and in other vulnerable deltas worldwide.

Methods

The authors combined discharge and salinity monitoring with satellite-derived land use data, and checked their results against crop yield data.

Key findings

Combining monitoring, satellite and yield data, the study found the highest drought and salinity intrusion impacts during the 2010-2011, 2015-2016, and 2019-2020 dry seasons.
Local governments employed strategies such as drought-tolerant rice, improved irrigation and revised cropping schedules to mitigate losses.
Even with these strategies in place, the authors conclude that further investments remain vital.

Policy implications

The authors say their findings provide evidence-based insights for managing drought and salinity intrusion and strengthening agricultural resilience in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta and other vulnerable deltas worldwide.

Keywords:

Mekong Delta
Drought
Salinity Intrusion
Land Use Change
Agricultural Resilience

Link:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112723

Citation:

Binh, D. V., Tran, D. D., Dương, V. H. T., Bauer, J., Park, E., & Loc, H. H. (2025). Land use change in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: Long-term impacts of drought and salinity intrusion using satellite and monitoring data. iScience, 28(6), 112723.