Weather aids local farmers

HCM City (VNA) - Favourable weather conditions have helped
farmers expand their cultivation areas this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

More than one million hectares of land are currently being used for
cultivation of maize, manioc, soybeans, sugarcane and nuts and other
short-term industrial plants, an increase of 9 percent compared to last
year.

The output of the winter-spring rice crop in the south was estimated at
11.5 million tonnes, with slightly higher productivity than the last crop,
according to theministry.

In the Mekong Delta region, the output reached 9.8 millions tonnes an
increase of 735,000 tonnes over the last crop.

Fifty percent of rice paddy in the northern, central and mountainous
regions have seen high yields, expected to be equal to the last
winter-spring crop.

MARD has told local agricultural officials to keep an eye on the
winter-spring crop in the north so that harvesting will be done on schedule.

The southern authorities are monitoring the summer-autumn and
autumn-winter rice crop, as well as implementing measures to control pest
infestation.-Enditem