Rice fields shriveled up by salination in the Mekong Delta.

Water levels in the Mekong Delta are falling and the region will lack irrigation in the coming dry season, experts predicted.

Blaming the situation on the El Nino phenomenon, the center said temperatures in the dry season can reach a high of around 37 degrees Celsius and water levels drop to 0.8 meters, which will be 0.5-1.1 meters lower than paddy fields in the area.

The Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said around 800,000 hectares of paddy fields in the delta will be threatened by salinity during the winter-spring season in March.

There have been warnings about further salination in several districts of Hau Giang Province, which is forecast to rise by 0.05 percent.

Salination of 0.04 percent has already intruded 50 kilometers into mainland Ben Tre Province and some areas of An Giang Province.

The Bac Lieu Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said high tides combined with salination have destroyed nearly all the rice which had just been planted in Gia Rai District for the winter-spring season.

Source: VNA