Water resources variation and winter–spring rice yield in An Giang

Nov 5

2 min read

Falling high water and winter–spring rice yield in An Giang. Water level, water volume and rainfall trends for 1996–2020 show high water levels in the upper Mekong Delta falling significantly after 2011. Winter–spring rice yield in An Phu district also trends down after 2011. Van Huynh Thanh Pham, Dung Duc Tran (HAPRI Senior Research Associate) et al. Illustrative photograph of a farmer at the edge of a low canal with exposed mud banks, pumping water into a green rice paddy in the Mekong Delta. The image does not show the actual study site.

Water resources variation and winter–spring rice yield in An Giang

www.hapri.org

Dung Duc Tran — Senior Research Associate

A study co-authored by Dung Duc Tran (HAPRI Senior Research Associate) and colleagues finds that high water level trends in the upper Vietnamese Mekong Delta decrease significantly after 2011. Over the same years, winter–spring rice yield in the An Phu district of An Giang Province shows a decreasing trend.

Context

Natural and socio-economic development under climate change has affected the distribution of surface water resources in many deltas worldwide. In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, the national rice bowl, the dynamics in surface water resources has negatively impacted agricultural production, which the authors describe as one of the growing issues in the region.

*After 2011: high water levels and rice yield trend down*

Methods

The authors applied Mann–Kendall, linear regression and Pettit tests to statistically determine trends in surface water resources (water level, total water volume and rainfall) from 1996 to 2020. They also analysed rice yield data for the same period and interviewed 33 water experts and 90 local farmers.

Key findings

High water level trends decrease significantly after 2011, and the authors find that this reduction has been due to climate variability and dam development upstream of the Mekong River.
Rice yield data from 1996 to 2020 indicated a decreasing trend in the yield of the winter–spring rice crop in the An Phu district of An Giang Province after 2011.
In interviews with 33 water experts and 90 local farmers, there was 80% agreement that the decline in water resources has affected rice yield.

Keywords:

Vietnamese Mekong Delta
Rice Yield
Surface Water Resources
An Giang Province
Water Management

Link:

https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2907

Citation:

Pham, V. H. T., Ho, V. H., Tran, D. D., Pham, T. D., Huynh, D. N., & Chau, N. X. Q. (2024). Impact of water resources variation on winter–spring rice yield in the upper Vietnamese Mekong Delta: A case study of An Giang Province. Irrigation and Drainage, 73(2), 574-587.