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Brownhoppers and catfish worry Mekong farmers 28 th July 2008                

The Mekong province of Dong Thap is the seedbed of brownhoppers, the insect that causes the ragged and stunted plant disease in rice, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat has said.

His observation follows a recent visit to the province to study pests and rice plant diseases and the catfish glut in the delta. According to figures from the ministry’s Plant Protection Department, Dong Thap has suffered the most from brownhoppers in the past decade.

With 13,000 ha affected by the insects and 6,638 by the ragged and stunted plant disease, Dong Thap has the largest affected area in the country. In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, other provinces that have vast areas under rice, such as An Giang and Kien Giang, have fared much better.

In Dong Thap, the number of brownhoppers caught in a mantle trap rose from 1.8 million hoppers on July 11 to 9.5 million on July 16. The department said 60 per cent of the insects carried the virus causing the ragged and stunted plant disease. Phat said a group of experts would be sent to Dong Thap later this month to help the province to bring the disease under control.

Catfish woes

Dong Thap also has problems caused by over-breeding of basa, a species of catfish. Phat said the sharp increase in the number of farms begun without planning is one of the chief reasons for the basa "crisis" currently plaguing the region, particularly Dong Thap. Dong Thap has 40 to 50 basa and tra – another catfish species – per square metre, double the 2003 figures.

In addition to around 150,000 tonnes of tra and basa already sold to processors, farmers have 96,300 tonnes in stock. These include 26,400 tonnes of basa comprising fish weighing over 1 kilogram each and 70,000 tonnes each weighing 0.7 kg.

The delta has around 113,000 tonnes of mature basa and tra awaiting consumption, exceeding the cumulative capacity of the region’s processors. Phat said the ministry would announce next month how much land would be earmarked for breeding basa and establish an information system to help farmers plan their output to minimise losses.

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