The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a conference yesterday to find solutions to help farmers in the Mekong Delta from suffering further losses of shrimp crops.
Nguyen Van Khoi, deputy director of the department, says that this year the weather has been very severe causing shrimps to die due to several types of diseases regardless of the efforts made by farmers to save them.
In Bac Lieu Province, breeders have been on tenterhooks because of their dead shrimp crops.
According to Luong Ngoc Han, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, about 3,000-3,500 hectares of tiger shrimps have also died due to changes in weather conditions.
The department has warned farmers to wait until the end of May, when there will be more rain, to begin farming again.
According to Dr Nguyen Van Hao, director of the Research Institute for Aquaculture No.2, tests on the diseased shrimps show sign of necrosis due to bacteria contamination.
The institute recommends maintaining good hygiene in the water ponds to prevent bacteria from growing.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Thi Xuan said that besides harsh weather conditions and salt intrusion, early farming or un-seasonal farming could also cause shrimps to die.
Besides, poor-quality shrimp breeding and poor farming techniques are also leading severe losses to shrimp farms, Ms. Xuan said.
She proposed that local authorities must revoke the licenses of units producing poor-quality shrimps and closely monitor farms to prevent diseases from spreading.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will ask relevant authorities to establish a steering committee on seafood disease prevention in the Mekong Delta, according to her.
