Vietnam expects bumper winter rice harvest

Agricultural experts in Vietnam say this year's heavy flooding in the Mekong delta should result in a bumper winter rice harvest.

The floods are the worst for forty years and have killed nearly five-hundred people in six provinces of southern Vietnam.

The experts say floods are often followed by bumper crops because nutrient-rich soils are washed downstream and many pests killed by the floods. The only pest to have flourished is the snail and a campaign against them has led to the destruction of fifteen-thousand tons of snail eggs by farmers. Rice experts say extra credit facilities have been made available to assist farmers, with loans not due for repayment until after the expected bumper harvest in March.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service