Favourable weather conditions and few plant diseases contributed to the high yield, said agricultural officials.

Rice prices have increased to an average of between VND3,500-3,700/kg, an increase of VND100-200/kg compared to last week.

An Giang Province planted a total of 53,448 ha for this crop, reaching about 78.5 per cent of the province’s planned cultivation area.

The province has harvested a total of 21,000 ha of rice with an average output of 5.4 tonnes per ha, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Farmer Nguyen Van Danh, in Tan Chau District’s Phu Vinh Commune, said he cultivated 1.5 ha of OM 2514 rice and reaped an average of 7.6 tonnes of rice per ha, selling the rice for VND3,650/kg.

"With this price, I’ve earned a high profit," Danh said.

In Dong Thap Province, farmers have harvested about 80 per cent of the third rice crop.

Nguyen Van Lu, in Tan Hong District’s Tan Chi Cong Commune, said he had harvested 6.5 tonnes of rice per ha of his 4 ha of jasmine rice.

"This is also the highest ever yield for the third rice crop," Lu said.

Dong Thap Province planted only 44,666 ha of rice for the third rice crop, compared to 50,000 ha planned by the province.

Duong Nghia Quoc, deputy director of Dong Thap Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said farmers did not cultivate a large area because of fear that ragged stunt disease caused by brown planthoppers would return.

Farmers were encouraged to plant two rice crops and a vegetable crop a year on their fields instead of planting three consecutive rice crops a year. This was done to keep the land fertile and prevent the spread of disease.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta usually plants an annual average of 300,000 ha of rice for the third rice crop