Northern Vietnamese Rice Crop Threatened

Insects are threatening to destroy 367,000 hectares or about one-third of the spring rice crop in northern Vietnam, Hanoi radio reported.

Drought has hit another 189,000 hectares, with 40,000 hectares very badly affected, it said.

Insecticides are in short supply so only the most endangered rice fields should be sprayed, the radio added.

The affected areas – the Red River delta and other coastal areas in northern Vietnam – produce between 30 to 40 per cent of the country’s rice.

The radio report, monitored in Bangkok on April 20 but only translated here over the weekend, said the threatened damage was spread over twice as large an area as last year.

Vietnam has not been able to grow enough food for its expanding population, with the Soviet Union buying rice in Thailand and Burma in recent years for supply to Vietnam.

Vietnam produced 18.2 million tonnes of food, most of it rice, last year and hopes to boost that to 23-24 million tonnes by 1990.