Brown planthopper pest infestation is spreading in the rice growing areas of Mekong Delta in Vietnam with over 130,000 ha of rice fields is being plagued by the pest.

As most farmers continued transplanting the third rice crop of the year, there are widespead concerns that a severe infestation of the pest could damage newly planted rice fields as well.

The region's agricultural experts have called on local farmers to temporarily stop transplanting rice seedlings for three to four weeks to prevent an outbreak.