In Lang Com hamlet, Binh Giang commune, Hon Dat district (Kien Giang province), there are more than 1,200 hectares of Autumn-Winter rice (crop 3), so far, about 1,000 hectares have been harvested. However, in the past 2 weeks, the harvested rice yield has decreased, from 5.7 tons/ha to less than 5 tons/ha.
According to Nguyen Van Hung - Vice President of Lang Com Hamlet Farmers' Association, the reason is that many rice fields in the locality have been attacked by stink bugs. Preliminary calculations show that at least 200 hectares of rice have been affected to varying degrees.
Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Trung (1993, Lang Com hamlet) said that he discovered this rice insect 3 years ago, but until now there is still no way to treat it. On average, a rice flower with 100 grains is attacked by 10 - 20 stink bugs, causing 30 - 40 grains to be empty, and the remaining grains are not round.
"With the remaining rice in the field, the yield may decrease by 30-40%, less than 4 tons/ha. Even if my rice field is harvested late, it is likely that stink bugs will migrate in more, risking total loss" - Mr. Trung worried.
It can be seen that the appearance of this insect has directly attacked the profits of farmers. These days, the family of old farmer Huynh Van Co (Lang Com hamlet) is in a corner because traders use the excuse of stink bugs to bargain over rice purchases.
"The stink bug attack forced us to quickly sell fresh rice. But after visiting the fields, traders refused to accept the old price, complaining that the rice grains were flat. Unusual rainy weather, and debts for supplies that needed to be paid... all of this pressure forced us to sell rice at any price," Mr. Co lamented.
According to some farmers and agricultural officials, stink bugs are not only appearing and causing damage to rice in Luong An Tra and O Lam communes (Tri Ton district, An Giang province) but also spreading to many localities in the Mekong Delta, such as Soc Trang, Tra Vinh...
"This is extremely dangerous in the context of rice cultivation in the entire Mekong Delta taking place like a back-to-back crop. This is not only an ideal environment to provide food but also a place for stink bugs to quickly multiply, directly attacking the winter-spring rice crop - the rice crop considered the main raw material for Vietnam's rice export. More worryingly, up to now, there is still no specific medicine to treat this rice pest" - Mr. Tran Minh Hieu, agricultural technician of crops and biological fertilizers, informed.
