Prolonged drought has caused an estimated loss of VND29 billion to the central highlands province of Dak Lak, the Nong Nghiep Viet Nam newspaper reported. The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that drought has affected 9,880 hectares of crops, including 2,620 hectares of wet rice, 353 hectares of maize and 475 hectares of vegetables. The department said coffee is the hardest hit crop with up to 6,432 hectares withering. Dak Lak is the largest coffee growing area in Vietnam which cultivates 185,000 hectares, producing 400,000 tons in the 2009-2010 crop, down 15,500 tons from previous crop.
