VIETNAM

From Rice Importer to Exporter: Reforms that changed Vietnam from a rice importer to a major exporter have helped produce a record southern spring crop even without fertilizer from the former Soviet Union, according to Vietnam’s agriculture minister. Nguyen Cong Tan, 57, said that only 5% of all farms are now state-run, compared to more than 85% before 1987. Under agricultural reforms launched in the late 1980s, Vietnam has dropped a central price-fixing system and allowed farmers long-term land leases and rights to sell produce on the free market. That helped the country cope with a sudden cutoff last year of cheap fertilizer from the former Soviet Union, on which Hanoi depended heavily. The increased rice exports are enabling Vietnam to buy the 250 million tons of fertilizer it needs yearly on international markets.