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Vietnam leverages climate change to boost shrimp
(SOUNDBITE) TA THANH TUNG, SHRIMP FARM OWNER: “Earlier than, when this entire space was nonetheless rising rice, folks did not have sufficient to eat. My household needed to discover further work, similar to searching mice or gathering firewood in change for rice to eat. Ever since we transformed to shrimp, we’re a lot better off and life is less complicated.” Locator: Soc Trang Province, VietnamFor years, Tung and his neighbors grew rice within the Mekong Delta regionNow, these fields are used to reap shrimpThe shift was spurred by the consequences of local weather changeRising seawaters have elevated the quantity of salt within the soilmaking it more durable for the rice to flourish(SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) SHRIMP FARM OWNER, TA THANH LONG, SAYING:”We planted rice, however did not harvest any rice. There was a time when the rice might nonetheless develop when the water was nonetheless recent. However then the water grew to become increasingly salty every year, and when the water rose, salt water submerged our area. We labored the sphere however had no rice to eat. So we switched to lift shrimp on a big scale.” The Vietnamese authorities plans to double shrimp exports to $10 billion by 2025But shrimp farming comes with its personal environmental issues (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) PROFESSOR OF ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY, DUONG VAN NI, SAYING: “Within the areas the place farmers dug to make ponds for shrimps, they actually removed the upper-most layer of soil, with all of the vitamins. Due to this fact, after shrimp farms, these locations will grow to be a desert with nothing left. Nothing can develop, not even grass. That’s the price to pay.”
