IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES IN THE BUFFER ZONE ON TRAM CHIM NATIONAL PARK AND SOLUTIONS TO LIMIT

Abstract

The study aims to assess the impact of agricultural production activities on Tram Chim National Park and propose solutions to limit it by directly surveying 120 households in 6 communes/towns in the buffer zone from May 2024 to December 2024. The results showed that cultivation has a high rate of livelihood structure (64.1% of surveyed households), followed by livestock farming (15.83%) and aquaculture (11.67%). Production activities with high income/cost ratios were bird's nest farming (20.9%), industrial shrimp farming and black fish farming (9.7%), while cultivation activities were low (0.17 - 3.66%). The impact of agricultural production activities on the environment and the National Park was the use of high amounts of fertilizers such as lotus, shallot, chili, watermelon and 3-crop rice cultivation; high use of pesticides such as dragon fruit, fruit trees, lotus, jackfruit, three-crop rice cultivation; discharge of untreated wastewater and sludge in household aquaculture activities, especially brackish water shrimp farming. Therefore, it is necessary to have solutions to develop two-crop rice, lotus, mango, chili and vegetable production activities according to organic agricultural methods, VietGAP, combining intercropping and smart farming to limit the use of fertilizers and chemical pesticides; develop models of raising blackfish, white fish and eel and implement good water supply management, wastewater and sludge management. Limit agricultural production activities with a high environmental impact and low profits, such as three-crop rice cultivation, watermelon, dragon fruit, raising frogs, eels and brackish water shrimp.