HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Mekong Delta is expected to have lessflooding than normal this year, according to the Directorate of WaterResources.

The delta, the country largest producer of rice, fruits and seafood, isnormally flooded in the Mekong’s upstream areas, and this fertilises the soilas sediments are deposited and brings river creatures into farms.

The floods are expected to peak at 3.5-3.7m at the Tan Chau Station in An Giangprovince in October, the directorate said.

They are estimated to reach 3 metres by the end of this month, but will notaffect the cultivation the autumn-winter crop.

However, the high tides are expected to be high this year and flood low-lyingareas in the delta’s central and coastal areas, especially when the tides occurat the same time as heavy rains.

The flooding is now low and does not affect agriculture production or dailylife.

The water levels in the Tien and Hau rivers, two major tributaries of theMekong River, reached 1.84m at Tan Chau Station and 1.87m at Chau Doc Stationin early last week, according to the National Centre for Hydro-MeteorologyForecasting.

An Giang and Dong Thap provinces are on the border with Cambodia, from wherethe Mekong enters Vietnam and are the first localities to be flooded annually.

To avoid damages and to benefit from the flooding, they take various measuresevery year.

An Giang has warned its farmers not to grow the autumn-winter rice in areasthat lack dykes.

It has 189,000ha of rice fields protected by dykes and is expected to crop154,680ha this season between July 15 and August 31.

Tran Anh Thu, deputy chairman of the province People’s Committee, said to sowthe crop effectively, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development hasbeen instructed to assist localities with inspecting and consolidating sluicesand flood-prevention dykes.

“Farmers should not grow the autumn-winter rice in flood-prone areas.”

In Dong Thap, farmers will not cultivate the autumn-winter rice on more than88,000ha of fields and will release floodwaters into them to fertilise the soiland destroy disease-causing pathogens.

The paddies are mostly in Chau Thanh, Cao Lanh, and Thap Muoi districts.

The floodwaters also provide livelihoods to farmers by bringing fish and othercreatures into their lands and also enabling them to farm them.

Handicraft villages that make tools for catching fish and small boats are alsobusy during the flooding season./.