The Mekong Delta Provinces

Can Tho City and the 12 provinces of the Mekong Delta are the key producers of rice and seafood providing more than 50 % of food security and exports for the entire country. Today, the main concerns of these two industries are the future supply of fresh water into the Delta given the changing climate, upstream dam construction, and increased water use by other riparian countries. Water supply to the Delta has developed over the years into two seasons: a dry season from December to May, when water supply accounts for 10–15 % of the total annual supply, and a wet season from June to November that supplies the other 85–90 %. Water supply for rice production in the Delta, also referred to as rice paddy or paddy, is critical because more than 80 % of rice is planted during the dry season when water flows are at their lowest. In addition, rice is one of the biggest consumers of water per ton of paddy produced (MRC 2005), in fact, one report estimated that in 2010 rice production accounted for two-thirds of all water consumed in the Delta (Deltares 2011a, b). As a result of these factors, most of the water that flows into the Delta during the dry months is used for both rice production and also, to a lesser extent, fresh water aquaculture production. In recent years, a series of severe floods (2000, 2001, 2004, and 2011) and extreme droughts (2005, 2008, and 2010) have all had a major impact on rice paddy production in the Delta and have raised concerns that these catastrophic events may become more frequent. Expert hydrologists are already observing the impact of climate change on the weather in the Delta and many of them generally forecast these extreme weather conditions in the Delta will continue in the future. Upstream dam construction is also raising concerns as their possible impact on water flows into the Delta during the dry season with one report predicting water reductions of up to 25 % once all of the dams are operating. Any water supply limitations of this magnitude during the dry months of the year would have a major impact on the Delta’s ability to sustain its economy. The two issues of climate change and the Mekong River dams are discussed in greater detail in Chap. 3 of this monograph. When considering the role of fresh water in the Delta it is important to note that there are no clear boundaries that show where the influence of saline infusion on paddy production ends, nor where fresh water supply changes from adequate to scarcity. The data presented showing how these two issues affect a province’s economy should be viewed only in broad general terms as year-to-year variations in fresh water flows and saline incursions will dictate specific actions. This chapter analyzes the development of the rice and aquaculture industries in the Mekong Delta between 2000 and 2010. Following a summary of the backgrounds to the rice and fish industries, the chapter discusses the economic structure of the Delta emphasizing the different characteristics of the two main industries in each region. These include the predominantly rice-growing northern provinces, the fresh water/saline intrusion uncertainties on the economies of the central provinces, and the dominant impact of saline intrusion on both aquaculture and rice production in the coastal provinces.