The saline intrusion will gradually intensify from this month, when the dry season begins, but will be less severe than in 2015-16, 2019-20 and 2023-24, sources from the irrigation department said.

The Mekong Delta, the country’s largest producer of rice, fruit and seafood and home to 18 million people (77% of whom work in agriculture), faces constant challenges such as reduced water flow in the upper sections of the Mekong River, rising sea levels, salt water intrusion and erosion.

During the 2023-24 dry season, about 73,900 households in the region experienced water shortages and more than 1,189 hectares of rice were damaged due to insufficient irrigation.

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