Photographer Pham Huy Trung went to the Mekong Delta during the annual flooding season, and these are what caught his eye. 

Unlike in central Vietnam where severe floods often result in death and destruction, the flooding season in the Mekong Delta is seen as a gift from heaven that brings tons of fish into the paddy fields along with alluvial deposits to fertilize the next crop. It usually lasts from July until the end of November.

Farmers wade into a flooded field in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap to harvest water chestnut, an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes under water. Water chestnut is grown in many countries for its edible corm, and it is a common ingredient in Chinese dishes such as water chestnut cakes.

Rows of palm trees stand in flooded fields in Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province. An Giang and Dong Thap are the first provinces in the region to receive the annual flooding.

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) said the much anticipated annual flooding season began in the middle of this month, much later than usual due mostly to a series of upstream dams built in the Mekong River which runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

The flood season also helps people in the Mekong Delta earn a livelihood thanks to abundant aquatic resources. When the flooding is late, cropping and fishing activities are severely disrupted.

A fisherman casts a net in a lake in Chau Doc, the capital of An Giang.

A man leads a herd of buffalos through a flooded field in Tan An Town, Long An Province.

Rice fields in Tri Ton District, An Giang Province, awaiting harvest.

Around 22 million people, or 24 percent of Vietnam's population, live in the Mekong Delta. Farmers in the delta produce more than half of Vietnam’s rice output and contribute an overwhelming 80 percent of the country’s rice exports.

A farmer ploughs his flooded rice field to prepare for a new crop in Moc Hoa District, Long An Province.

Ducks in inundated fields are a familiar sight for people in the Mekong Delta.

A woman rows her boat amid green duckweed floating in Tan An Town, Long An Province to pick water lilies.

Water lilies, which blossom during the rainy season, are used for decoration and to make tea. Their stalks are edible and can be eaten raw with either fermented paste or braised sauce, or dunked into sour soup or hotpot.