Serious food shortage looms

Severe drought could cause a major food shortage in Vietnam this year, agricultural officials said at a seminar of southern provinces last week. "The threat of a five million ton rice shortage is very serious," said Bui Ba Bong, deputy agricultural minister. He said there is no way to predict the summer-autumn rice harvest for the drought-stricken north, so "the Mekong Delta has to produce for the whole country in this crop." (Thanhniennews.com March 24).