May 6, 2011

Diseases affect shrimp farming in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

At least 13,000 hectares of tiger shrimp farming area in the Mekong Delta have been destroyed by diseases.

Nguyen Van Khoi, deputy director of Soc Trang Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said shrimp diseases have appeared since March but causes as yet remain unknown.
 

The Research Institute of Aquaculture No. 2 (RIA 2) earlier concluded that local tiger shrimps mainly caught liver problems while white spot syndrome is not critical. Another test by the Animal Health Centre Zone VII later showed that shrimps were free from Taura, white spot and yellow head diseases.

The province has lost over VND1 trillion (US$486,000) due to the diseases. Yet Soc Trang has not received support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as no disease has been detected.

In Ca Mau Province, 11 out of 20 hectares of a newly-farmed tiger shrimp area have caught the white spot disease.

As the danger of a disease outbreak approaches, Ben Tre Province's agricultural department has told farmers not to begin new farming now to prevent losses. The department also advises farmers to buy shrimp breeds from certified farms in the province, not from neighbouring localities.

Khoi said unusual weather conditions might be the cause of recent shrimp diseases. "We have yet to see signs of transition between the dry and the rainy season although it occurs between April and May every year. So, in my opinion, shrimp diseases still remain now," Khoi said.

"The diseases cannot be controlled in the short-term," Khoi said.