Vietnam rice troubles could affect region
Friday, 21 March 2008
LOS BANOS, Philippines, March 20 (AFP): Vietnam's farm sector is reeling from outbreaks of pests and disease that could threaten its neighbours including China, according to one of the world's leading rice experts.
Hanoi and the world scientific community have yet to find a way to prevent another crop failure following a virus attack on rice crops last year, said Robert Zeigler, head of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Vietnam is the fifth-largest rice producer and number three exporter in the world, and last year's troubles hit some of the best rice-growing areas, Zeigler told AFP in an interview at the Institute, just south of Manila.
"The fact is, they got taken by surprise and they had some significant yield losses that they were just not expecting," he said.
"Of course we are concerned about Vietnam. But some of these pests can migrate up into China, and who knows if could they move up and cause some serious problems?"
He noted that, while China is not a key player in the international rice trade, the country is by far the world's largest producer and consumer of the grain.
Vietnam also lies close to Thailand, the world's top rice exporter, and rich rice-growing areas in Myanmar and Cambodia.
Zeigler said the IRRI is monitoring the potential impact of the severe winter in China on its rice crops, both in the north where only one crop is grown a year and in the south where the usually milder climate allows for multiple planting seasons every year.
The troubles have helped lead to spiralling prices, with many nations relying on Vietnamese exports. Prices have soared to more than 700 dollars a tonne, more than three times the rate of five years ago.
Along with other disasters such as flooding in Java and a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh, the Vietnam troubles-a viral disease called tungro and infestations of the brown planthopper insect-have also led to global supplies being drained.
Zeigler said it was still not clear why the pest and virus attacks had swept across the southern and central regions of Vietnam.
"We're faced with a lot of unknowns," said the American, who has headed the Institute-credited for developing high-yield rice strains in the 1960s that helped lift hundreds of millions in Asia out of poverty-since 2005.
Hanoi and the world scientific community have yet to find a way to prevent another crop failure following a virus attack on rice crops last year, said Robert Zeigler, head of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Vietnam is the fifth-largest rice producer and number three exporter in the world, and last year's troubles hit some of the best rice-growing areas, Zeigler told AFP in an interview at the Institute, just south of Manila.
"The fact is, they got taken by surprise and they had some significant yield losses that they were just not expecting," he said.
"Of course we are concerned about Vietnam. But some of these pests can migrate up into China, and who knows if could they move up and cause some serious problems?"
He noted that, while China is not a key player in the international rice trade, the country is by far the world's largest producer and consumer of the grain.
Vietnam also lies close to Thailand, the world's top rice exporter, and rich rice-growing areas in Myanmar and Cambodia.
Zeigler said the IRRI is monitoring the potential impact of the severe winter in China on its rice crops, both in the north where only one crop is grown a year and in the south where the usually milder climate allows for multiple planting seasons every year.
The troubles have helped lead to spiralling prices, with many nations relying on Vietnamese exports. Prices have soared to more than 700 dollars a tonne, more than three times the rate of five years ago.
Along with other disasters such as flooding in Java and a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh, the Vietnam troubles-a viral disease called tungro and infestations of the brown planthopper insect-have also led to global supplies being drained.
Zeigler said it was still not clear why the pest and virus attacks had swept across the southern and central regions of Vietnam.
"We're faced with a lot of unknowns," said the American, who has headed the Institute-credited for developing high-yield rice strains in the 1960s that helped lift hundreds of millions in Asia out of poverty-since 2005.