Vietnam plans to stockpile rice to help farmers affected by severe Coronavirus

[caption id="attachment_8058" align="aligncenter" width="780"] File Photo[/caption] Vietnam's state media reported on Tuesday (August 3, 2021) that Vietnam plans to stockpile rice purchased from indigenous farmers to help farmers affected by the severe Coronavirus, shutdown and low export prices. The move, which is subject to approval by Vietnam's prime minister, should encourage farmers to continue rice production into the next harvest, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported, citing deputy agriculture minister Tran Thanh Nam. Nam did not say how much rice the government planned to buy for the temporary stockpiling. Paddy output from the ongoing summer-autumn harvest is forecast to be 9.04 million tons, up 1.35% from last year. "Farmers are finding it hard to sell their newly harvested rice because many exporters and middle traders are unable to make their purchases due to the Coronavirus movement curbs," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said. Traders said low export rice prices had also discouraged them to sign new export contracts. The country's rice shipments in the first seven months of this year were estimated to have dropped 10.6% from a year earlier to 3.6 million tons. Source: Online/KSU