Farmers in the Mekong Delta have begun planting the year's third rice crop and are likely to plant a total of 455,000ha, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
It would be 34,000ha more than during the corresponding crop last year, the ministry said on the basis of figures from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in each delta province, which also forecast a harvest of 1.01 million tonnes.
To achieve the target, provincial authorities have urged farmers to store fresh water to irrigate the crop and fight drought and pests.
Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang have planted high-quality rice varieties on a total of 260,000ha.
The varieties include OM 723-7, OM 726-10, Tai Nguyen and Mot Bui, which have a maturity period of 120-150 days.
The provinces have adopted integrated pest management systems for 120,000ha and only 4,000ha out of them have been affected by brown plant-hoppers.
The crop is growing well and is estimated to yield an average output of at least 3.9 tonnes per hectare.
Though on average the third crop is not as bountiful as the winter-spring or summer-autumn crop, prices of the grain are often 20-30 percent higher because of higher quality, according to the departments.
The crop is cultivated on a smaller area than the two major crops since in many places farmers are encouraged to grow two rice crops and a vegetable crop instead of three rice crops in a year.
This is aimed at keeping the soil fertile and controlling plant diseases.
The third crop is planted in June and July following the harvest of the summer-autumn crop.
The country has harvested more than 1 million hectares of summer-autumn rice crop, getting an output of more than 10 million tonnes, according to the ministry.
The delta alone harvested more than 8.1 million tonnes from 1.6 million hectares, or an average yield of 4.77 tonnes./.
It would be 34,000ha more than during the corresponding crop last year, the ministry said on the basis of figures from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in each delta province, which also forecast a harvest of 1.01 million tonnes.
To achieve the target, provincial authorities have urged farmers to store fresh water to irrigate the crop and fight drought and pests.
Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang have planted high-quality rice varieties on a total of 260,000ha.
The varieties include OM 723-7, OM 726-10, Tai Nguyen and Mot Bui, which have a maturity period of 120-150 days.
The provinces have adopted integrated pest management systems for 120,000ha and only 4,000ha out of them have been affected by brown plant-hoppers.
The crop is growing well and is estimated to yield an average output of at least 3.9 tonnes per hectare.
Though on average the third crop is not as bountiful as the winter-spring or summer-autumn crop, prices of the grain are often 20-30 percent higher because of higher quality, according to the departments.
The crop is cultivated on a smaller area than the two major crops since in many places farmers are encouraged to grow two rice crops and a vegetable crop instead of three rice crops in a year.
This is aimed at keeping the soil fertile and controlling plant diseases.
The third crop is planted in June and July following the harvest of the summer-autumn crop.
The country has harvested more than 1 million hectares of summer-autumn rice crop, getting an output of more than 10 million tonnes, according to the ministry.
The delta alone harvested more than 8.1 million tonnes from 1.6 million hectares, or an average yield of 4.77 tonnes./.
