CLUES Project

Climate change affecting land use in the Mekong Delta: Adaptation of rice-based cropping systems

The Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s main rice area and accounts for half of annual rice production.Use of rice land in the Delta is divided into agro-hydrological zones controlled by flood duration and depth, water availability, and salinity regimes.

Over the last 30 years, Vietnamese farmers have been adapting to changing environmental conditions by diversifying and modifying their production systems and water management. But recent, as well as forecast, agro-hydrological changes threaten the viability of these farming and social systems and, subsequently, food security within Southeast Asia.

The main constraints to farmers' ability to adapt to the new hydrological regime are availability of suitable cultivars, soil nutrient management options, insufficient knowledge of potential harm from acid sulphate soil inundation, and planning tools.

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