Current contracts for delivery of rice in the second half of the year would maintain this pace, so the goal of rice growers was to assure stable production and delivery on existing contracts, not to further increase export volumes.

According to Nguyen Dang Chi, deputy head of the Ministry of Trade's Export Department, land area under rice cultivation was decreasing due to industrialisation and urbanisation. In delta areas in the north, many farmers have given up rice growing altogether in favour of more consistently lucrative crops.

Future supplies are subject to changes in the weather and fluctuations both on the global market and in the domestic price.

While the official anticipates that supplies will be consistent with export plans for the rest of the year, no new rice export contracts were urged due to risks presented by possible floods or price fluctuations as the year progresses.

The Government was being cautions and would leave any further decision on rice exports to the end of the third quarter of this year, said Chi.

Meanwhile, he explained, the pause in rice exports will not negatively affect farmers. Rice prices have risen 18 per cent since the beginning of the year, and farmers are likely to reap a profit of 5.1 trillion VND (318.75 million USD) by filling current export contracts.

While costs of growing rice are estimated at 1,450 VND/kg, farmers can currently sell at 2,750 VND/kg, guaranteeing them an 80 per cent margin, according to Ministry of Finance data