Vietnam Sees Myanmar as Another Rice Export Rival: Assoc.

Myanmar will become the biggest rival of Vietnam in rice export in the coming time because of its growing output of 25% broken rice that Vietnam mainly exports, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), Truong Thanh Phong.

 

Phong said that Vietnam has seen Thailand as the biggest rival which exports 8 million tons of rice yearly, including 3 million tons of fragrant rice. Meanwhile, Myanmar is striving to raise its white-rice output, or 25% broken rice.

 

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Myanmar currently has 8.26 million hectares under rice cultivation with an estimated output of 32 million tons in 2009-2010 crops, of which some 1.5 million tons will be for export. The country plans to raise the annual output to 40 million tons including more than 2 million tons for exports.

 

Myanmar, which used to be the biggest rice exporter in the world, has boosted rice exports to the EU, the Middle East and African countries.

 

Phong warned that Vietnam should pay more attention to food security because climate change is affecting its crops.

 

He stressed that India, the world’s third biggest rice exporter, will have to import several tons of rice because of decreased output caused by prolonged drought.

 

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, has recently warned of a lean rice harvest in northern and central Vietnam as some 80,000 hectares of rice are withering due to water shortage. (Vietnam Agriculture)