Vietnam's "Rice Bowl" Cracks Under Long Dry Spell

Southern Vietnam, including the business hub Ho Chi Minh City and its "rice bowl" Mekong Delta region, suffered an unusually long heatwave in February, weather officials said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

El Niño weather phenomenon and the general impact of global climate change are contributing to the unusually long dry spell, which is still ongoing.

Several areas of the delta are also suffering drought, and farmers are struggling to transport their crops due to low water levels in the region's canals.

The intense period of heat began on February 9, meteorologists told AFP, with temperatures reaching up to 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) -- an "abnormal" high for February in southern Vietnam, which usually sees hot weather peak at around 39C (102F) in April or May.

In Ca Mau province, at the tip of the Mekong Delta, farmer Hong Chi Hieu told AFP that "severe drought" had made the earth "very, very dry" and caused problems using the waterways.

"Most of us grow rice here. We have quite a bumper crop this year, but the dry canals are badly impacting the transportation of our harvest," he said.

Le Dinh Quyet, chief forecaster at the Southern Meteorological and Hydrological Administration, said the El Niño weather phenomenon and the general impact of global climate change were contributing to the unusually long dry spell, which is still ongoing.

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