ABSTRACT
While other countries have enjoyed peaceful conditions for economic development, it has been difficult for Vietnam to recuperate from the wars that caused immeasurable devastation to people's lives and properties and to the country's natural resources, particularly in the countryside. Social welfare facilities in the villages remain below the standards necessary to support modern living for the rural population. This chapter first looks at key features of rural development during the mid 1970s-1980s. It then examines some of the important resource and environmental conditions affecting rice agriculture, especially in the Mekong delta, and research and extension work that is being pursued in order to enhance production that is environmentally sustainable. Although Vietnam today has become one of the world's leading rice exporters, the income of most Vietnamese farmers is still low compared to that of their neighbors.
