Scientists are worried that in the next 5-10 years, Vietnamese young people will no longer want to plant rice.

“The biggest problem at present is most rice growers are poor and another problem is the next rice-growing generation. Without a solution, no young man will plant rice in the next 5-10 years,” said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong.

Experts outlined possible measures to help rice growers including protecting areas for rice growing, investment in agricultural infrastructure, higher assistance policies for rice growers, and research into the use of rice varieties that can adapt to climate change.

Areas devoted to rice in Vietnam have reduced by an average of 58,700ha annually since 2001 while areas for crops in general have reduced by over 300,000ha/year on average. Meanwhile, the population grows by one million people a year.

In the Mekong Delta, the country’s rice basket, a large area formerly used for rice fields have been used to breed fish and shrimp ors to plant fruit trees.

Dr. Duong Van Chin, vice director of the Mekong Delta Rice Institute, also worries about the further narrowing of rice-growing land owing to sea levels rising, caused by climate change.

“If sea level rise by one metre, 68 percent of the Mekong Delta will be flooded and 1.7 million hectares will be infected with salt water,” Chin said.

“The encroachment of salty water and the shortage of upstream water on the Mekong River from December to May has become serious,” he warned.

VietNamNet/Tien Phong