ABSTRACT
The history of pesticide use in agriculture in Vietnam is short. Before 1950, malaria was a widespread disease among the Vietnamese people. At that time, French and native physicians trained the people to sleep under nets to protect against Anopheles mosquitoes, which are the vectors for malaria. During the period of 1950 to 1960, dichlorodiphenyltrichloromethane (DDT) and a technical mixture of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) – termed ‘666’ by the Vietnamese – were applied over all Vietnamese territory to control the mosquitoes responsible for vectoring malaria, which at that time had become epidemic. The DDT and HCH insecticides were donated to Vietnam by either the former Soviet Union or the People’s Republic of China. Since 1960, Vietnam has maintained control of malaria through the use of insecticide applications.
