June 8, 2011
Vietnam's Mekong Delta shrimp area infected by disease
Diseases have damaged 52,470 hectares of shrimp breeding area in seven provinces in the Mekong Delta region, accounting for 98% of the total affected area across Vietnam.
Soc Trang province suffered the heaviest loss as the diseases destroyed 19,800 hectares out of a total of 25,500 hectares under local shrimp cultivation.
Severe weather conditions and bad infrastructure made the impact of the shrimp disease more devastating.
The government has granted 120 tonnes of chlorine from the national reserve for affected provinces to disinfect shrimp breeding areas.
Vietnam has over 558,342 hectares shrimp breeding areas, comprising 547,390 hectares of prawn shrimp and 10,952 hectares of whiteleg shrimp.