Awake agriculture in the border region of Tay Ninh province

After 5 years, phase 1 of the irrigation project in the western area of the Vam Co Dong River is completed. With a design flow of 14.81m3/s, the main and level 1 canals have a length of over 100km, serving irrigation for nearly 17,000 hectares of agricultural land and supplying water for daily life and livestock to thousands of households. around.

With a total investment of more than VND 1,100 billion, the project has created new vitality for two border districts of Tay Ninh province.

Tran Van Chien, Vice Chairman of Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee, said water plays an important role in agricultural production. "Solving the water problem will help agricultural production flourish," he assessed.

According to Chien, the work on the Vam Co Dong River will become a highlight, contributing to the restructuring of agricultural production in the province and at locations where the canal passes.

Vinamilk is one of the businesses that directly benefit from the project. From the arid land of Ben Cau, the company has built a dairy barn system with thousands of individuals. Along with that are hundreds of hectares of grassland and corn biomass.

Trinh Quoc Dung, Executive Director of Vinamilk's raw material area development, recalled as soon as the People's Committee of Tay Ninh province had a policy to invest in irrigation works at Vam Co Dong River, the company immediately started to implement the large-scale system.

"Our activities need much water to serve cows and grow raw materials. Thanks to the irrigation system that crosses the Vam Co Dong River, our company can develop sustainably," he said.

Tran Van Duc, Long Phuoc commune, Ben Cau district, shared that thanks to the irrigation system across the Vam Co Dong river, his house's pump well no longer runs out of water like before. The family's crop productivity has improved significantly.

In the past, to have enough water to irrigate crops, many households worked together to drill wells to pump underground water. The pump is placed continuously for 7-10 days per irrigation period. This is very expensive to produce, and sometimes machines are damaged due to continuous operation.

The irrigation project at Vam Co Dong River was started in 2018 with an investment of VND 998 billion. By early 2022, the project will be adjusted to more than VND 1,246 billion.

This project uses water from Dau Tieng Lake through the main West canal and the culvert at the beginning of the TN21 canal. The project includes works such as a water diversion canal with a length of 16.67km. The Vam Co Dong river crossing project has a length of 2,361km, structured with 2D2.4m diameter steel pipes placed on concrete and reinforced pillars.

Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee has just proposed an additional VND 500 billion to implement phase 2 of the Vam Co Dong River irrigation project to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. In particular, the goal is to concretize more than 100km of land canals, reduce losses due to water seepage, and increase water supply for the Moc Bai border gate economic zone.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai assessed that the policy of Tay Ninh province has made clear the need to develop cultivation and irrigation for a large area.

He directed the Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Government Office to soon submit to the Government for approval.

Tay Ninh province is one of the localities with a relatively complete irrigation system. The Vam Co Dong river system and Dau Tieng Lake irrigation works, provide irrigation water for thousands of hectares of land in Tay Ninh and serve water for the production and daily life of people in Long An province and Ho Chi Minh City.

However, due to the natural characteristics of the area west of the Vam Co Dong River, which is relatively high ground, a lack of water for irrigation in the dry season often occurs.

This not only makes agricultural production difficult for people in Chau Thanh and Ben Cau districts but also causes a lack of water for daily life.