Asia remains the major market for Vietnam 's rice , accounting for almost 70 percent of exported rice, followed by Africa with over 26 percent, according to Vietnam Food Association (VFA).

Other markets such as America , Australia , and the Middle East consume less than 1 percent of Vietnam ’s rice exports.

In February this year, Vietnam shipped abroad almost 348,000 tonnes of rice, earning 165.25 million USD, a decrease over the same period last year.

At present, farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces are harvesting the winter-spring crop, with a yield of 6.32 tonnes/ha.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, output for this year’s winter-spring rice crop is likely to reach 10.34 million tonnes.

However, many farmers were concerned about rice prices in the delta region last week, as it decreased by 400-500 VND/kg compared with the previous month’s price.-VNA