Vietnam's 2011 paddy output to hit 42mn T-Ag Min

HANOI: Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter, is forecast to produce a record high of 42 million tonnes of paddy, or unhusked rice, this year, up around 5 percent from 2010 thanks to a larger planting area and higher yields, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Output would jump from nearly 40 million tonnes harvested in 2010 as the rice acreage for three crops would expand 2.7 percent to 7.7 million hectares (19.03 million acres) and average yield would also increase nearly 3 percent to 5.5 tonnes per hectare, the ministry said in a report at the weekend.