An infected rice field

VietNamNet Bridge – 143,000 ha of summer and winter rice crops in the Mekong Delta region are being plagued by insects. This is twice as much as the area under attack in early July.

According to Vietnam News Agency, the provinces suffering the most are Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, and Hau Giang. In these areas, insect density ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 insects per sq.m.

In some places, it is as high as 20,000 per sq.m. In many provinces, 20% to 100% of the insects caught in insect traps carry rice grassy stunt virus.

According to the Department of Plant Protection, during this rainy season, the southwestern wind is likely to spread insects to large areas throughout the Mekong Delta region, attacking summer and winter crops.

Insects have spread as far as HCM City, where in recent days local residents have been harassed by insects swarming around street lamps and insect corpses littering their houses.

Local experts said that every night, from 30,000 to 40,000 insects flew into lamp traps and this would continue with the number rising as high as 150,000 insects per trap per night. Farmers have been advised to start sowing 1 to 3 days after insects fly into the highest lamp traps.

(Source: SGGP, NLD)