Responsive plans urged to cope with El Nino’s negative impacts on Vietnam’s agriculture

Delegates at the event discuss strengthening the response plans. (Photo: NDO/Thanh Tra)

Experts gathered at a conference held by the World Bank (WB) Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in Hanoi on October 26, to discuss the results from a newly-released report on strengthening the resilience of agri-food systems against the impact of El Nino in Vietnam.

At the seminar, experts argued that El Nino is a phenomenon of extreme weather, which has a strong influence on the global climate. In Southeast Asia, El Nino lasts from eight to 12 months, or longer. It is difficult to predict and prevent because it appears irregularly, with periods ranging from two to seven years. Even its nature and intensity in each occurrence is different.

When El Nino was occurring, the average yield of the winter-spring crop was lower than that of the previous crop, especially in Vietnam’s northern midland region, while the productivity of the summer-autumn rice crop increases, especially in the North Central.

According to the WB report, in Vietnam, the recent El Nino in March 2016 directly affected the quality of fisheries (including fishing and aquaculture), down from the previous year.

In order to limit the negative effects of El Nino on the economy, the WB advised that the Government of Vietnam should issue timely policies when events related to El Nino occur, in addition to improving the capacity of government officials in the area of resisting El Nino.

While there is no coordinating body for preventive activities, including adaptation to climate change and disaster management, Vietnam needs to set up an El Nino prevention agency as it is an urgent issue to help develop and formulate local climate and weather forecasting capabilities and turn the forecasts into useful information for local farmers and technical staff./.

NDO