Rice Production in Vietnam - Geographical Setting

Geographical Setting

In the geographical region of Vietnam which has a total land area of 33 million ha, there are three ecosystems that dictate rice-growing culture. These are: the southern delta that dominates rice coverage which has a warm and humid climate throughout the year with sunshine, the northern delta with tropical monsoon area with cold winters with rainfed and flood prone rice varieties; and highlands of the north which has upland rice varieties; and the percentage distribution of area grown in the three ecosystems are 60, 32 and 8 respectively.

The Mekong Delta formed by the Mekong River, which is Vietnam's rice bowl, is the delta region situated to the south of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). It outfalls into the sea in southern Vietnam and constitutes 12 provinces of the Mekong Delta. Delta is formed by the huge amount of rich and beneficial silt brought in by the Mekong River; this deposit is so large that the shore line is said to extend by 80 metres (260 ft) annually. Deltas are formed when a river joins the sea or a lake. The formation is subject to the amount of sediments that are carried by the rivers. As the deltas build up over the years, they get formed in the shape of a triangle and the deposits in this formation are of rich alluvium, which are ideally suited for growing wet rice, as is done now extensively in the Mekong Delta where farmers and fishermen live to pursue their vocation of farming and aqua culture.

The Mekong River rises in the Tibetan plateau. In its total river course of 4,350 kilometres (2,700 mi) it encompasses six countries of Southeast Asia. The river initially traverses through Myanmar and then forms the border between Laos and Thailand, then flows through Cambodia (Phnom Penh), enters Vietnam and forms the largest delta in the world – the Mekong Delta – before debouching into the South China Sea. While flowing through Cambodia, the river splits into two branches, namely the Hậu Giang (meaning: the lower river) and the Tiền Giang (meaning: the upper river); the Hậu Giang River is also known as the Bassac River, which flows to the sea after passing through Chau Doc (near the river border at Vĩnh Xương and land border at Xa Xia near Hà Tiên), Long Xuyen and Cần Thơ; the Tien Giang, the upper river, meanders through several branches, which gives Mekong the Vietnamese name of "Song Cuu Long", meaning "River of Nine Dragons". Tonlé Sap Lake from Cambodia also drains into the river at Phnom Penh – the lake which fills up during high flood stages due to back up flow in the Mekong River during the flood season (hence acts as a flood storage reservoir) and drains down only when the flood recedes. The Deltaic formation with an elevation range of 0–3 metres (0–9.8 ft) is a flat landscape of "emerald green, it looks as if it were carpeted in AstroTurf."

The flow in the river varies from a low of 1,900 cubic metres (67,000 cu ft)/sec in the lean season to a high of 38,000 cubic metres (1,300,000 cu ft)/sec, usually during September at the fag end of the flood season. Flood disasters have been frequent in the river causing losses in rice paddy cultivation and also coffee crops apart from other losses to infrastructure and property. Because of the flood conditions in the flat low terrain of the delta, houses are built on stilts and roads are taken over embankments. More frequently, canal systems flowing through the delta are used for transportation and for this purpose they are regularly dredged and made navigable. The Mekong Delta is least prone to catastrophic storms as compared to similar rice growing delta regions such as the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar.

Apart from rice, the delta is also used for commercial fishing (giant catfish is the most popular, known as ‘Mekong catfish’ could grow up to 3 metres (9.8 ft)). Irrawaddy dolphins are found in the higher reaches of the river in Cambodia and Laos. Other aqua fauna found in the river delta are many species of: turtles, water snakes, and insects. The delta is also the source of animal products of pigs, ducks, chickens, and cattle.

Important places of interest in the Mekong Delta are: Vĩnh Long homesteads, Mỹ Tho (gateway to the Mekong Delta, a town founded in 1680 originally by the Chinese refugees, now inhabited by locals practicing vocations of fishing and rice cultivation), and Bến Tre town and canals, Khmer pagodas, Trà Vinh – Mekong's first inhabitants, floating fish farms, Cham villages near the town of Chau Doc, Phu Quoc island and many more sights.