SBV to spend VND8 trillion on rice The State Bank of Vietnam will set aside VND8 trillion (USD380 millon) in preferential credit to buy rice from farmers under a state-backed rice storage programme, said one official.   Governor Nguyen Van Binh Governor of State Bank of Vietnam, Nguyen Van Binh, made the announcement on March 15 at a conference on rice production and consumption in the Mekong Delta. The Vietnamese media have reported that rice prices in the Mekong Delta, considered "rice bowl" of the country, have dropped to some VND3,800-4,000 per kilogramme, a record low given the high volume of the harvest. The state-backed rice storage programme is aimed at helping keep rice prices from falling further. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, predicted that paddy rice prices will continue to fall, and proposed that the government buy one million tonnes of rice between March 15 and April 30. Also speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved Minister Phat’s proposal. The PM added that if the government were to buy rice, the programme should ensure a profit of at least 30% for farmers. Government leaders agreed on the recommendation of local authorities that agricultural restructuring is needed by a reduction of agricultural areas devoted to rice cultivation and an expansion of other crops. However, the PM said that localities must carefully consider which crops should replace rice. Vietnam ranks as the second largest rice exporter worldwide, but successful branding of Vietnamese rice still lags behind other countries. The PM urged localities and management agencies to pay attention to this dilemma. By Pham Tam | dtinews.vn