92 SOCIAL SCIENTIST will continue to do its best, to restore and enhance solidarity in the world communist movement, on the basis of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, and in ways conformable to both reason and sentiment.4 [I am grateful to Mrs JVguyen Le Khanh, who translated ihu interview.] 1 A Vietnamese cadre told me later that the government had signed an agreement with Petro-Can to explore for offshore oil in^south Vietnam and a Danish foreign aid expert said that they were seeking similar agreements with Scandinavian governments and with France. The Vietnarncse comrade said that in general they hoped to explore for oil in north Vietnam with Russian aid, and in the south with aid from western countries. She thought that the machinery would be paid for in oil over a limited number of years and that the agreements would involve the training of Vietnamese personnel. For Vietnamese plans for joint ventures with capitalist firms in exploiting other minerals, see Nayan Chanda. "Hanoi's Joint Venture Plan'^, Far Eastern Economic Review, 24 September 1976. 2 This compares with an average of 1.6 to 1.7 tonnes of paddy per crop-hectare in India in 1970-74, and with an average of 1.9 tonnes per crop-hectare ^in Tamil Nadu state, south India, in 1970-71. In Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, which is a rice-growing delta ecologically similar to the Mekong and Red River deltas, the average yield per crop-hectare was 3.26 tonnes in 1974-75, but only about 33 per cent of the irrigated area grew two crops per year. (Season and Crop Reports^ Department of Agriculture, Government of Tamil Nadu). s This rice ration compares favourably with south India. In September-October-1976, in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, which specializes in rice cultivation, villagers were able to buy only 32 kilograms per month per household at reasonable prices in the fair-price shops. Other rice was available in the open market, but the prices w^ere too high for most of the vast mass of landless labourers who do the bulk of paddy cultivation. 4 This statement echoes that of President HoChi Minh in his Testament, and of First Secretary Le Duan in his report to the first national assembly on 24 June 1976.