Mekong Delta farmers destroy thousands of hectares of sugarcane

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tra Cu District in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh on May 4 said that due to the negative impacts of prolonged saltwater intrusion and drought on crops, along with low prices, many farmers are no longer interested in sugarcane.
In the last crop, the district grew more than 2,478 hectares of sugarcane, the area of sugarcane now has dropped to about 1,800 hectares, down 678 hectares. Although the area of sugarcane reduced drastically, farmers have just grown a few hundred hectares of sugarcane, much slower than the plan.

In Cu Lao Dung District – the key sugarcane growing area of Soc Trang Province, many farmers also destroyed their sugarcane fields as sugarcane cultivation is time-consuming but the efficiency is extremely low, or farmers even suffered losses constantly. According to the People’s Committee of Cu Lao Dung District, at peak time, the district had more than 8,500 hectares of sugarcane. However, this year, farmers have chopped down sugarcane to around 3,900 hectares. In the next crop, the area of sugarcane in the district is expected to continue to reduce and be replaced by other crops.

In Hau Giang Province where sugarcane is grown earliest in the Mekong Delta, only 5,900 hectares of sugarcane have been grown so far. Of which, Nga Bay City saw a decrease of 390 hectares of sugarcane compared to the last crop; Vi Thanh City 590 hectares; especially, farmers in Phung Hiep District has cut more than 1,260 hectares of sugarcane to switch to grow durian, pomelo, and seedless lime.

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