Extreme dry weather conditions over the last few days have dried out rice fields and made it highly conducive for disease and insects to devour the standing summer-autumn rice crop in the central region.
According to statistics from departments of plant protection in provinces from Thua Thien-Hue to Nghe An, nearly 100,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice crop has been eaten up by the brown and white-backed plant hopper pest.
Quang Tri Province is the worst hit with each square meter of rice field being covered with 700-2,000 white-backed plant hoppers, in some area covering upto 5,000-10,000 square meters.
Besides plant pests, rats and blight disease are also affecting more than 2,043 hectares of rice crop.
Meanwhile, most of the fresh water sources have become polluted or destroyed, leaving tens of thousands of residents suffering from shortage of fresh water in Nam Dong District of Thua Thien-Hue Province and Dakrong District in Quang Tri Province.
