Due to slow and weak flow, water hyacinth grows rapidly, many canals in Hau Giang are covered with water hyacinth, making the circulation of goods and agricultural products difficult.
At the end of July, Lo Quan canal, 15-20 m wide and 6 km long, running through Thuan An ward, Long My town and Thuan Hung commune, Long My district, was covered with water hyacinth. Boats and canoes could barely navigate.
“There is so much water hyacinth that it took me an hour to get there, otherwise it would only take 15 minutes,” said Phan Van Quan, 69, who rowed his boat from his house along Lo Quan canal in Thuan Hung commune, about 500 meters to a store near the intersection with Cai River to buy fish food.
Lo Quan Canal running through Long My town and Long My district is covered with water hyacinth. Photo: Peaceful
The old farmer said that this canal has been covered with water hyacinth for nearly 20 years. Normally, during the rice harvest season, people have to pool their money to buy herbicides to spray to kill the water hyacinth so that rice-buying boats can easily enter and exit. Otherwise, traders will lower the price of each kilo of rice by 100-200 VND, depending on the distance. However, water hyacinth grows very quickly, and after only 1-2 months, it covers the entire canal again.
About 1.5 km from Mr. Quan’s house, farmer Nguyen Van Khuong, 59 years old, said that boats and canoes have not been able to travel on this section of Lo Quan canal for many years because there is too much water hyacinth. More than a hectare of his family’s rice, when harvested, had to be gathered on the road, and traders drove trucks to buy it, forcing the price down 100 VND per kilogram. “They said they couldn’t bring in big boats to transport it, and the trucks had a limited load capacity, so they couldn’t carry much, so they had to lower the purchase price,” Mr. Khuong said.
Meanwhile, the Cai River, 20-30 m wide and tens of kilometers long, flows through Long My district and Long My town, also covered with water hyacinth, the water flows very slowly, causing environmental pollution; boats and ships have difficulty traveling.
Boats and canoes have difficulty moving on Lo Quan canal due to dense water hyacinth. Photo: Peaceful
Mr. Tran Van Nam, 65 years old, who works as a rice buyer, said he was very hesitant to enter the area with many rivers and canals covered with water hyacinth in Long My district and Long My town because it took a lot of time and incurred additional costs. “My boat carrying 10 tons of rice on the Cai River for a distance of about 10 km takes nearly 3 hours and nearly 10 liters of fuel, double the time and fuel compared to other river routes,” he said.
The situation of water hyacinth growing and covering the surface of canals also occurs in other localities such as Hong Dan district (Bac Lieu province), Go Quao district (Kien Giang), Phung Hiep and Vi Thuy districts (Hau Giang province), but the most severe is Long My district and Long My town.
Mr. Le Hong Viet, Vice Chairman of Long My District People’s Committee, said that the natural conditions of the locality and Long My town are located in the water border area between the East Sea and the West Sea. Therefore, although the canals are crisscrossed, the water level difference when rising and falling is not high, only a few dozen centimeters, so the water flows very slowly and weakly. This is a favorable condition for water hyacinth to grow, especially during the months of operating the irrigation system to prevent salinity and retain fresh water for agricultural production.
A section of Cai River flowing through Long My district and Long My town is covered with water hyacinth. Photo: Peaceful
According to Mr. Viet, the whole district has 22,000 hectares of agricultural land, of which about 18,000 hectares are used for rice cultivation; the demand for transporting materials and agricultural products by waterway is very large. However, currently 70-80% of the agricultural production area in the area is located in areas where rivers and canals are covered with water hyacinth, making it very difficult for boats and ships to travel.
Every year, the locality organizes many campaigns to collect water hyacinth, clear the flow… but they are not able to cope due to the large quantity. Spraying water hyacinth insecticide is not allowed because it pollutes the environment and poisons water sources.
“Many other localities in the West also face this water hyacinth problem. Therefore, in the long term, we propose to have a regional project, calling for investment in collecting and processing water hyacinth to make fertilizer, generate biomass power, handicrafts…”, said the Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Long My district.
Water hyacinth is dense in many canals in Hau Giang. Video: Peaceful
Meanwhile, Mr. Bach Van Son, Head of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Hau Giang province, said that the locality needs to invest in a system of machinery to collect, process, and consume water hyacinth in a synchronous and effective manner.
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