Barriers to Implementing Irrigation and Drainage Policies in An Giang Province, Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

Water management in delta floodplains worldwide faces many challenges due to the changing climate and increasing human intervention in the hydrological regimes of rivers. Irrigation and drainage systems are necessary components of a water management strategy that aims to support human habitation and agricultural production, but which need effective coordination in order to adapt to exogenous impacts. However, management of such systems often fails for a variety of reasons. In the floodplain of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, irrigation and drainage systems under dike protection confront ineffective implementation of water management policy, posing a challenge for adaptation to exogenous impacts on the hydrological regime. Over the past two decades, farmers have increasingly cultivated annual triple-rice crops in high-dike compartments, ignoring government regulations that call for flood retention. This study analyses interviews with farmers to identify their motivation for not implementing the triennial cropping off-season advised by the local government (3-3-2 cycle). Our findings show that farmers have avoided implementing the 3-3-2 cycle because of various disadvantages that the system presents for them. Local officials, in turn, have accepted farmers' disregard of the rule. Lessons learnt from this study are considered to explore measures to effectively adapt to future hydrological changes. © 2017 The Authors. RÉSUMÉLa gestion de l'eau dans les plaines d'inondation des deltas du monde entier pose de nombreux défis en raison de l'évolution du climat et de l'augmentation de l'intervention humaine dans les régimes hydrologiques des cours d'eau. Les systèmes d'irrigation et de drainage sont des composantes nécessaires d'une stratégie de gestion de l'eau qui vise à protéger l'habitat humain et la production agricole, mais qui nécessitent une coordination efficace pour s'adapter aux impacts exogènes. Cependant, la gestion de ces systèmes échoue souvent pour diverses raisons. Dans la plaine d'inondation du Delta du Mékong vietnamien, les systèmes d'irrigation et de drainage sous la protection des digues font face à une mise en oeuvre inefficace de la politique de gestion de l'eau, ce qui pose un défi pour l'adaptation aux impacts exogènes sur le régime hydrologique. Au cours des deux dernières décennies, les agriculteurs ont de plus en plus adopté des systèmes d'exploitation basés sur trois cultures de riz/an dans les compartiments topographiquement plus élevés, en ignorant les réglementations gouvernementales qui exigent la rétention des crues. Cette étude analyse les entretiens avec les agriculteurs pour identifier leurs motivations à pas mettre en oeuvre la cycle triennal hors saison conseillée par le gouvernement local (cycle 3-3-2). Nos résultats montrent que les agriculteurs ont évité de mettre en oeuvre le cycle 3-3-2 en raison de divers inconvénients que le système présente pour eux. Les fonctionnaires locaux, en retour, ont accepté le mépris des agriculteurs à l'égard de la règle. Les leçons tirées d...

River deltas: scaling up community-driven approaches to sustainable intensification

“…All these subregions face serious threats to their sustainability and productivity. Engineering solutions alone will not stabilize the system, but need to be combined with adaptations of the agricultural production system to increase resilience (Renaud et al 2013(Renaud et al , 2014Smajgl et al 2015;Tran and Weger 2017).…”

Agricultural land-use dynamics in the floodplains of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta : hydrodynamic implications on flood regimes and adaptation options

“…In Dong Thap province, where fewer high dikes had been constructed, seven of the 15 farmers interviewed did not prefer the high dikes (Dung and Jacob, 2017). These farmers, thus, had a distinctly different view from those in An Giang.…”

“…In An Giang, 40 of the farmers interviewed preferred high dikes to low dikes (Dung and Jacob, 2017). The preference was made because (i) high dikes improved residential safety and public welfare and (ii) they enabled cultivation of a third rice crop, for which a stable market was readily available.…”

“…However, from 2000 to 2006 there was an intensive effort to heighten dikes, in order to allow triple rice cropping (Sakamoto et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2012). Currently, two thirds of the rice-growing area in An Giang is under triple rice production (Tran and Weger, 2017). In Dong Thap, triple rice production accounts for one third of the total cultivated area (Tong, 2017).…”

“…That means all agricultural fields are completely encircled by primary dike rings, which also provide footing for main roads. Thus, 28 cultivation compartments have been created, and water levels in the fields are regulated according to a schedule, either by pumping or by opening sluice gates (Tran and Weger, 2017). Most fields within the compartments are used for triple rice cropping, but vegetables and maize are also grown.…”