A bank collects soil deposits in southern Vietnam

The bank in the province’s Cai Nuoc District collects dirt and mud from the bottom of shrimp ponds. This can then be used to refill land at construction sites, said To Ngoc Nam, deputy director of the provincial Agricultural Department.

The soil bank project has received World Bank funding of VND20 billion ($892,000).

Sand supply in the province has been running low and become very expensive. According to the Ministry of Construction, authorized sand exploitation only meets 45 percent of domestic demand. Prices of construction sand have rocketed by 200-300 percent since last year, and show no signs of easing.

In the southernmost province, where aquaculture has been a main economic activity, people have been getting rid of mud and dirt from their shrimp ponds by dumping them into rivers and streams, affecting their flow. The soil bank can collect these deposits, instead, and save the province the expense of dredging its water bodies.