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GFMM desk: Vietnam has decided to raise its white rice exports quota for April to 500,000 tons from 400,000 tons, the government said on Wednesday (22 April, 2020).
The extra 100,000 tons is the rice that had been transported to ports prior to March 24, when the government announced a ban on rice exports to make sure the country has sufficient food to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
On April 10, the government said it would allow the export of 400,000 tons of white rice this month. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is drafting the export plan for May and will submit it to the government by April 25.
Rice production in Vietnam in the Mekong and Red River deltas is important to the food supply in the country and national economy. Vietnam is one of the world's richest agricultural regions and is the second-largest (after Thailand) exporter worldwide and the world's seventh-largest consumer of rice.
The Mekong Delta is the heart of the rice-producing region of the country where water, boats, houses and markets coexist to produce a generous harvest of rice. Vietnam's land area of 33 million ha has three ecosystems that dictate rice culture. These are the southern delta (with its Mekong Delta dominating rice coverage), the northern delta (the tropical monsoon area with cold winters) and the highlands of the north (with upland rice varieties). The most prominent irrigated rice system is the Mekong Delta. Rice is a staple of the national diet.
Source: Online/SZK
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