Agriculture and fishing

Historic levels of saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta have caused coconuts in Ben Tre Province to shrink by half in size and farmers’ incomes by even more. One afternoon in early August, Tran Trung Tac, owner of a dwarf coconut grove, opens 100 coconuts one ...

With the Thai baht weakening, Vietnamese rice is fetching 3 percent higher prices in global markets than varieties from Thailand. Vietnam’s 5-percent broken rice has been priced at $468-472 per ton since August 8, $15 more than its Thai rivals. The prices have risen by 6.8 ...

Farmers in the Mekong Delta are chopping down hundreds of hectares of durian trees that were lost to drought and saltwater intrusion. For years Le Van Thoi has earned VND600-800 million ($25,800-34,400) a year from his durian farm in Cai Lay Town in Tien Giang Province. Thanks ...

Eleven people have been prosecuted and 77 boats have been seized for electrofishing in dolphin protected zone of the Ayeyarwady River in Mandalay Region since January 2018, but the practice continues, authorities said. U Han Win, who is in charge of Ayeyarwady dolphin conservation for the ...

On August 1, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucheld a working session in Can Tho with 13 Mekong Delta provinces and cities on removing difficulties for production and business activities and boosting the region’s economy. This is the fourth working session of the government leader with Mekong ...

A locust swarm from China has been destroying bamboo forests and corn fields in Dien Bien Province in northern Vietnam since last week. The yellow-spined bamboo locust (Ceracris kiangsu) swarm, which has an estimated 100-400 individuals per square meter, devoured bamboo leaves in 20 ha of ...

The Thai Rice Exporters Association cut its projection for 2020 rice exports from 7.5 million tonnes to 6.5 million tonnes, the lowest in a decade. Thailand shipped 3.14 million tonnes of rice in the first six months of this year, down 32.7% from the same period ...

The Vietnam Plant Protection Association (VNPPA) has called for a 30 percent cut to deal with long-standing pesticide overuse in the country. It says cutting pesticide use by 30 percent will not impact agricultural productivity. Truong Quoc Tung, standing deputy chairman of VNPPA, said recently that Vietnam ...

Crucial water flows to the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest lake, have been delayed for a second consecutive year according to river experts, severely disrupting fishing and threatening the food supply of more than a million people. The river reversal vital for Tonle Sap Lake may ...

“I’m used to hearing the sound of laughter every morning as my customers come to buy fish,” says 37-year-old Huon Tim. “But it’s very quiet these days in the village.” For Huon, who runs a small fish and produce stall at the local market in Kampong Por, ...