An additional 3,730 tonnes of rice from the national reserve will be provided to poor people in three provinces on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival and the period between crops, the hardest time of the year for farmers.

Under decision No149/QD-TTg, signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the Government would provide needy people in the northern province of Yen Bai and central province of Ninh Thuan with 1,000 tonnes of rice each, and the northern province of Ninh Binh with 1,730 tonnes.

Dung asked the provincial People's Committees to promptly deliver the food aid and report their results to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Earlier on Jan. 21, the Prime Minister decided to deliver nearly 34,000 tonnes of rice from the national reserve to the needy people in 11 provinces, including Dien Bien, Son La, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Quang Binh, Quang Nam and Quang Tri./.