The rice harvest in the southern part of the central region and theCentral Highlands is expected to be under 35,000 tonnes compared to theprevious winter-spring crop because of prolonged drought, the Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development has said.

The ministry'sPlant Cultivation Department said that 1.63 million tonnes of rice wouldbe harvested in the 2014-15 winter-spring crop.

More than 3,300ha of rice fields have been switched to other crops because of drought, the department said.

About 23-25 percent of the winter-spring rice crop has been harvested, and the rest will be completed by the end of the month.

Theregion's rainfall late last year was 20-60 per cent lower than theaverage of many years, and this year it has been 20-50 percent lowerthan average, according to the Southern Central Region Centre forHydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Several provinces, including Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, have had no rain this year.

"NinhThuan had to stop planting more than 6,000ha of rice in thewinter-spring crop to ensure the supply of irrigation water," Phan QuangThuu, deputy director of the Ninh Thuan province Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development, said at a recent seminar in Phu Yen.

For the upcoming summer-autumn crop, Ninh Thuan will give water priority for household use and husbandry, he said.

PhamHuu Hao, Deputy Director of the Dak Nong Province Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development, said more than 3,000ha of coffee inthe province faced a water shortage.

The department has toldlocalities to temporarily stop planting rice and use water to irrigatecoffee fields. Dak Nong has also encouraged residents to dig ponds tostore water.

In Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Dak Lak and Khanh Hoaprovinces, drought has destroyed nearly 600ha of rice and 100 ha ofvegetables, and 7,300ha of rice, corn and vegetables, according toprovincial departments of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Thesouthern part of the central region and the Central Highlands plan toswitch to drought-resistant crops like corn or sweet potatoes on morethan 8,800ha of rice fields for the upcoming summer-autumn crop.

Phu Yen province, for instance, plans to use 500ha of rice fields to grow corn, beans and other cash crops.

NguyenTrong Tung, director of the Phu Yen Province Department of Agricultureand Rural Development, has asked for help from the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development to shift from rice to other cashcrops.

The Phu Yen department said it will also review theresults of cultivating cash crops and ask the province's People'sCommittee to develop support policies for farmers.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said the ministry will consider the petitions.

HoangThanh Tiem, Deputy Director of the National Agriculture ExtensionCentre, said that policies on water management are needed for areas inthe Central Highlands where perennial industrial trees are grown.

Authorities have told provinces in the regions to switch to drought-resistant crops in areas with water shortage.

Localdepartments of Agriculture and Rural Development will also cooperatewith the ministry's Irrigation Department and Electricity of Viet Nam tocreate a plan to regulate water from the reservoirs of hydro-powerplants to supply irrigation water to downstream areas.-VNA