Among measures to cope with drought and freshwater shortage, the switch to sesame crops in the dry season has provided rice farmers in Vietnam’s Can Tho city with higher incomes in recent years.

It is estimated that the city has turned nearly 2,270ha of rice fields into sesame in the current summer-autumn crop, a year-on-year increase of 1,713ha, said the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The sesame plant is mostly cultivated in Thot Not, O Mon, Co Do and Vinh Thanh districts.

Sesame is a short-day and drought-resistant plant. It takes around 75 days before being harvested.

The profit from planting sesame is two to three times higher than rice, equivalent to 7.5 million dong ($320) per hectare.

With last year’s bumper harvest summer-autumn crop and high selling prices, sesame farmers earned a profit of 50 million dong per hectare.

The department said sesame helps improve the soil’s fertility and saves irrigation water, especially in the dry season.

Rice rotated with sesame also helps reduce diseases for the next rice crops.

The city has more than 9,280ha of rice fields that have been turned into bean and vegetable cultivation and short-term industrial plants this crop, up 2,490ha compared to last year’s summer-autumn crop.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK