Grain output in 2012 estimated at 48.5 mln tones
Vietnam’s total output of rice and corn in 2012 is expected to reach 48.5 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 1.24 million tonnes, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Of the figure, rice registered over 43.7 million tonnes (up 1.26 million tonnes) and corn 4.8 million tonnes (down 0.7 percent) compared to the 2011 figures.
The ministry attributed the increase in rice output to the favourable weather conditions, and the decrease in corn output to the shrinking cultivated area in the northern provinces.
Currently, rice growers nationwide are sowing seeds for the 2012-2013 Winter-Spring crop.