FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 06/99 - VIET NAM (2 June)
The rainy season began in the middle of April in main crop areas along the Mekong River Delta and central highlands. This signaled the earliest start to the wet season in three decades and brought to an end extreme dry weather in the Delta region. In normal years the wet season begins at the end of April or early May. Due to the dry weather earlier, 1998/99 winter-spring yields are expected to be somewhat lower than last year. The country's target for rice exports in 1999 is 3.9 million tonnes, slightly above the 3.8 million last year. So far this year, some 1.3 million tonnes of rice have been reported, which is appreciably lower than the 2.3 million tonnes exported in the same period last year, when Indonesia and the Philippines were more active in the market. Earlier in the year, official reports indicated that some 2.3 million people were suffering food shortages caused by dry weather in northern and central provinces.
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