Vietnam's 2010 rice output up

Rice production this year in Vietnam, the world's second-largest exporter after Thailand, rose 2.7 percent from 2009 to 39.99 million tonnes thanks to an increase in planted area and a higher yield, the government said. Farmers planted a combined 7.51 million hectares (18.56 million acres) for three rice crops this year, up 1 percent from 2009, while the yield rose 1.6 percent to 5.32 tonnes per hectare, the General Statistics Office said in a report.
The winter-spring crop, which accounts for nearly half of the country's rice output and is used mainly for export, brought in 19.22 million tonnes of paddy, or unhusked grain, up 2.8 percent from a year ago, the report said.
Vietnam's milled rice exports rose an estimated 14.6 percent this year to a record 6.83 million tonnes, the government said on Tuesday. The Vietnam Food Association, in an initial target, has said exports could drop to 6 million tonnes in 2011. Thailand's rice exports will probably total 8.8 million tonnes in 2010, up 3 percent from the previous year and higher than the government target of 8.5 million tonnes, the US Department of Agriculture attache in Thailand said.