El Nino has been blamed on the irregularly low floods in the Mekong Delta which have harmed rice production, especially the Winter-Spring crop. Low floods lead to low levels of alluvial mud and a lot of weed. Without an alkaline wash, rice fields are likely to suffer from pathogens. These issues will mean 30%increased production costs in the area this season compared to previous years.
In a response, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently requested localities to assess the impact of drought and salinity intrusion to adopt timely counter-measures.
