Rice stockpile recommended to hold prices

Central and provincial agricultural officials agreed that the Government should approve a plan for food companies to buy and stockpile 1 million tonnes of rice from the summer-autumn crop to enable farmers to sell their crops and prevent a fall in prices.

At a meeting held in HCM City yesterday officials from the Cultivation Department and provincial agriculture departments and executives from rice export companies, they also promised to take up the issue with the Government.

The Government often supports food companies with interest-free loans to enable them to buy rice and other crops, especially when prices begin to fall.