Vietnamese Farmers Switch to Growing Rice

Produce, aquaculture and other farmers in Vietnam are switching to rice growing to cash in on the grain’s soaring price.

In the Mekong Delta, many farmers have turned their vegetable and aquaculture farms into rice paddies, the Vietnam News reported Thursday.

Similar trends are seen among sugarcane farmers in Hau Giang, Soc Trang and Tra Vinh provinces, the report said. One expert said farmers can cultivate three rice crops a year compared to one sugarcane crop.

In Long My district, more than 75 acres of sugarcane fields have been cleared to make way for a summer-autumn rice crop, the report said.

In Kien Giang province, more than 50,000 acres of cajeput forests have been chopped down to plant rice, the report said. Oil from the cajeput tree is used for therapeutic purposes in Asia.

In Vinh Long Province, farmers have converted 1,200 acres of vegetable and others crops into rice fields.