Abandoned agricultural land due to water cut-off

Speaking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Diep Minh Xuan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thuan Nam District, explained that the water cut was to reclaim encroached forest land and convert it into production land. According to Mr. Xuan, through inspection of land management in the Song Bieu Lake area of Nhi Ha Commune, the area of encroached forest land was about 610 hectares, of which more than 100 hectares had been leveled into rice fields; the rest were annual crops. "The district directed not to provide irrigation water for this area to facilitate the reclamation work," Mr. Xuan affirmed.

Đất nông nghiệp bỏ hoang vì bị cắt nước - Ảnh 1.

Abandoned fields make life more difficult for many households in Nhi Ha commune.

However, according to the directive document of the People's Committee of Thuan Nam district, at least 89 hectares of crop land of 26 households in Nhi Ha commune that were converted to rice cultivation by the people have also had production stagnant. When asked why this happened, Mr. Xuan said that the conversion of rice land was done spontaneously by the people.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trinh Minh Hoang, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ninh Thuan province, affirmed that there was no forest destruction to encroach on land. According to Mr. Hoang, the above mentioned area was previously subject to land and forest allocation. However, he did not know the legal documents of this area because he had only been assigned the task for a few years. "How to handle the encroached land is the responsibility of the local government," Mr. Hoang said.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/kinh-te/dat-nong-nghiep-bo-hoang-vi-bi-cat-nuoc-20180320220026682.htm