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.

Of the figure, rice registered over 43.7 million tonnes, up 1.26 million tonnes compared with last year’s figure and corn 4.8 million tonnes, 0.7 percent lower than the 2011 amount.

The ministry attributed the increase in rice output to the favourable weather conditions, and the decrease in corn to the shrinkage in cultivation area in the country’s northern provinces.

Currently, rice growers nationwide are sowing seeds for the 2012-2013 Winter-Spring crop.-VNA