Speaking to Dantri/Dtinews on June 2, a representative at the Tan Ky District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that they were taking measures to exterminate tens of millions of grasshoppers which are devastating forests and crops in the area.

"The grasshoppers started to appear in late May and have been quickly developed in numbers," he said. "The insects had consumed some 10 hectares of forest in Nghia Binh District within a day. They have been spreading to rice and corn fields and destroying over 60 hectares of the crops so far."

A local resident, Ngan Van Ha, said that his corn field of 1,000 square metres has been destroyed by the grasshoppers.

According to the department, grasshoppers have been destroying crops at this time of the year in Nghia Binh over the past two years but this is the first time such large numbers have been seen.