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8 - AgricultureTable 7. Northeast Thailand rice production, 1990-1999199419972001Major RiceArea harvested (‘000 ha)Production (‘000 tonne)Yield (tonne/ha)Second RiceArea harvested (‘000 ha)Production (‘000 tonne)Yield (tonne/ha)Total RiceArea harvested (‘000 ha)Production (‘000 tonne)Yield (tonne/ha)4,3567,1251.644,5577,9781.754,6759,0461.9314322.25631903.031384513.274,3707,1581.644,6208,1681.77153.62381.97Source: Thailand National Statistics Office 1997, 2001The LMB area of Viet Nam, specificallythe delta region, is the core rice growingarea of the country. There are three majorcropping seasons in the delta: winterspring,summer-autumn or mid-season,and wet season-long duration.Approximately 60 percent of the ricegrown in this region is grown in irrigatedlowlands, with the remainder underrainfed lowland cultivation. 50 Rice yieldsin the delta are extremely high by LMBstandards and the area is nearing itscarrying capacity, with high yielding ricevarieties and very intensive cropping –up to three harvests per year in someplaces. 51 There is scope for furtherWith irrigation, some parts of the Viet Nam Delta growthree crops of rice per yearimproving efficiency by overcoming constraints to production which include: farm sizes that aretoo small; a lack of roads and other physical infrastructure; and inadequate market and distributionsystems. 52 There are also problems with the efficiency of post-harvest crop processing facilitiesthat have resulted in post-harvest losses as high as 13-16 percent. 53 Furthermore, the MekongDelta faces environmental constraints including flooding at the end of the rainy season, droughtin the dry season, salinity in coastal areas, and acid sulphate soils in the Plain of Reeds and theLong Xuyen Quadrangle. Upland production in the Central Highlands is less efficient, withirrigation a rarity and yields averaging only 3 tonnes per hectare in 1999, as opposed to 4 tonnesin the delta.157