Severe Drought Dries Up Thai Crops

Thailand farmers say second rice crop in northern province of Chiang Rai already perishing from water shortages.
Severe Drought Dries Up Thai Crops
4/7/2010
Updated:
4/7/2010
Thailand farmers say the second rice crop in the northern province of Chiang Rai is already perishing from water shortages caused by a severe drought.

Farmers expected the dry season to come late this year, but it started earlier instead. Officials say that the drought may become the worst in decades.

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the El Nino phenomenon is most likely responsible for this season’s dryness in the Indochina region.

Local farmers usually take water from the Kam River to irrigate 40,000 acres of land, but the river has already started to shrink.

“I do not know how the government can help solve these problems as the drought is becoming stronger. They have not yet found an alternative source of water,” said local farmer Prasept Raphchak, according to an NTDTV report.

To save the second rice crop, farmers are using well water, which is also not enough, he said.

Water levels in the Mekong River, Southeast Asia’s largest river, have dropped to as low as 13 inches—the lowest in 50 years.

According to the Mekong River Commission (MRC), whose members includes Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, more than 60 million people rely on the river, which is the world’s largest inland fishery, producing an annual estimated catch of 3.9 million tons.

Vandi Intara, the deputy of head of Chiang Saen District in Chiang Rai Province, says that the residents of villages located along the Mekong River are using small water pumps, which can irrigate only 80 acres of land per day.

The government has declared 36 provinces in the North, Central, and East regions of the country as drought affected.

The harsh dry season is adding to the woes of the current government, which is also dealing with a major political crisis. Since March 12, intense anti-government protests by the “red shirts” have gripped the capital, making it difficult for the government to function effectively.

The drought has affected the agriculture industry in the entire country. Crop failure in Thailand, the world largest rice exporter, could cause global rice prices to rise, international suppliers have warned.

Earlier in the week, MRC countries blamed Chinese dams higher up on the Mekong for water shortages in northern Thailand and Laos.

However, China’s observer delegation at the Mekong River Commission meeting in the Thai coastal town of Hua Hin on April 5 rejected the criticism, telling the leaders that it was not to blame for the regional drought affecting millions of people, reported the Bangkok Post.

China itself is suffering continued drought in the Southwest that is affecting more than 50 million people in the provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, and the city of Chongqing.

Discontent in China over the artificial causes of the drought, sky-high food prices, and unsatisfactory disaster relief is increasing. Meanwhile, the state-run media continues to praise government relief efforts.

The Southwest region of China has experienced low rainfall and high temperatures since the fall of 2009, according to Chinese media reports.

According to statistics, as of March 17, about 17.6 million acres of crops in China were affected by the drought, among which about 380,566 acres yielded zero production, causing a direct economic loss of $2.8 billion.