The French Agence Française de Développement (AFD) pledged VND370 billion ($19.3 million) for Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Ninh to upgrade its irrigation system, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said March 4. The project will upgrade Phu My, Kenh Vang 2 and Nhat Trai pump stations in Luong Tai district and irrigation system in Gia Binh district. Once operational, Phu My station is expected to water 5,600 hectares of agricultural lands in Gia Thuan region while Nhat Trai and Kenh Vang 2 will water 14,800 hectares, and Gia Binh’s irrigation system will irrigate hundreds of hectares of agricultural lands in Gia Binh district. Bac Ninh’s agriculture, like in many provinces in northern Vietnam, is facing severe droughts due to two-month dry weather and very low level of Red River, whose flow is controlled by twelve hydropower plants’ dams in upstream in Chinese province of Yuannan.
