Customers buy goods at a Co.opmart supermarket in HCM City. Food supply has been ensured for the city and southern region during the lockdown. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — Food supply has been ensured for HCM City and the southern region during the social distancing period, according to a working group supporting the COVID-19 fight in the southern region.

The group at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sent a report to Deputy Prime Minister Lê Văn Thành on the supply of food and foodstuff for HCM City and Bình Dương Province during the social distancing period from August 23 to September 6.

The amount of rice, pork, chicken meat, eggs, vegetables and fruits are all sufficient for consumer demand.

Total rice supply for the southern region is estimated at 7.16 million tonnes, while consumer demand in the south for rice is 3.1 million tonnes for the rest of the year.

The total supply of vegetables for the southern region is 3.1 million tonnes, while consumer demand is nearly 1.7 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, the Mekong Delta still has nearly 1.5 million tonnes of vegetables of all kinds that need to be consumed domestically or exported.

HCM City needs per day around 1,980 tonnes of rice and 4,200 tonnes of vegetables, more than 1,000 tonnes of all kinds of meat, and 1.8 - 2 million eggs.

Each day, Bình Dương needs about 540 tonnes of rice and 670 tonnes of vegetables, 294 tonnes of all kinds of meat, and 930,000 eggs.

The supply of livestock products remains diverse and mostly unchanged, while the amount of pork and poultry eggs is sufficient for supermarket systems.

The region’s total egg production is 16.9 million poultry eggs per day, while total pork production is around 4,200 tonnes a day.

More than 1,200 suppliers have registered with the ministry working group to supply agricultural products and foodstuff, including 334 vegetable suppliers, 316 fruit suppliers, 438 aquatic product suppliers, 75 food suppliers, and 55 suppliers of other items.

The group is piloting a combo package of 10kg of agricultural products that provinces and cities will buy. This package can help quarantine areas and workers at boarding houses access affordable agricultural products, with the average selling price of VNĐ10,000 (US$0.4) per kg.

Localities are capable of supplying HCM City 800 tonnes of agricultural products per week. The supply capacity could reach 1,500 tonnes per week if the 1,200 suppliers are involved. — VNS