The project is expected to developing drip irrigation for development of urban trees in Phan Rang - Thap Cham city, Ninh Thuan province. It contributes to implement the Green Growth action plan of the province through the pilot green growth project supported by GGSF.

According to the general socio-economic planning of Ninh Thuan province towards 2020, which was approved by Prime Minister in Document No.1222/QĐ-TTg on July 22, 2011, Ninh Thuan province will become the Vietnam’s future destination with synchronized infrastructure, capacity of climate change adaptation and sustainable economic development, in which the specific environmental objectives are to efficiently manage and use natural resources, strengthen education and training, and raise the environmental protection awareness.

Ninh Thuan is located in the South Central Coast with an important geographic location on the junction of the South East and Central Highlands. Ninh Thuan has a great potential for development and is seeking to take advantage of its plentiful potentials; however, it is still in the face of fresh water shortage, besides it is strongly influenced by Elnino, flash flood, which leads to desertification, which has covered over 20% of total land of the province. Therefore, it is necessary to re-invent the water resources, seeking an optimal water use modality and selecting water saving irrigation methods to mitigate drought-caused damages.

Ninh Thuan has focused on developing water-efficient irrigation model for upland crops at drought-affected areas in order to increase productivity and product quality of plants; in addition, to develop the green space to reach environmental goals: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, air regulation, etc. particularly in Phan Rang – Thap Cham city. The province annually allocates many expenses to maintain the public green system due to unsteady water supply.

Project site - Retention lake in Ninh ThuanThe project site – the retention lake has the area of 10ha, with capacity of 100.000m3; its water level’s fluctuation is low and stable during the seasons. Its water source originates from rainwater and domestic wastewater in Phan Rang – Thap Cham city through the open canal. According to the survey, there are about 305 trees plant at the regulation lake area with distance between two trees of 7m currently, estimated total greening area is about 5.000m2.

Regarding urban tree caring, current irrigation technology is overflow irrigation, hose irrigation, there are some small areas using sprinkler irrigation recently. Some private companies are signing contract with People’s Committee of Phan Rang – Thap Cham city (CPC) to implement urban tree caring. Therefore, information about irrigation status and tree caring such as overflow water amount, energy consumption, fertilize amount… will be provided to the PCU by CPC. Thereby, PCU can compare the effectiveness of using drip irrigation with other irrigation technology in the same urban area.

Therefore, the research on, identification of and investment in a sustainable urban tree caring model through the application of drip irrigation to create landscape and urban environment– a highlight point of the Phan Rang – Thap Cham city in contribution to common efforts of the province in providing solutions for efficient management and use of water resources in order to ensure the water security for living, sustainable economic development and environmental protection and specification of the implementation activities of the national green growth strategy in urban development field. At the same time, it has high effects on the community of how people develop urban trees effectively and replicate across the city in the context of climate change.

To sum up, the project is expected to developing drip irrigation for development of urban trees in Phan Rang - Thap Cham city, Ninh Thuan province. It contributes to implement the Green Growth action plan of the province through the pilot green growth project.