Rice traders in bangalore

The Hanoitimes – The restructuring aims to cut production costs and increase income for farmers.

Vietnam has gained positive changes in production and consumption of rice in its four-year project on restructuring rice industry, but there is still a lot of works to be done to achieve the goal of sustainable development and increase income for Vietnamese rice growers.

The Vietnamese rice industry need cutting production costs and improving income for farmers. Photo: Tung Nguyen

The statement was released at the conference on implementing the rice industry restructuring project until 2025, with a vision to 2030, which was organized by the Department of Crop Production, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on December 25 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the Department of Crop Production said that some targets under the rice industry restructuring project such as ensuring food security, output and export turnover have been implemented. Meanwhile, others such as raising income for rice growers and building the national brand for Vietnamese rice still have not been fulfilled, he said.

Mr. Tran Xuan Dinh, technical consultant for the project, said that since the restructuring of rice production, although the paddy acreage has been declining year after year, production has remained stable at between 43 and 44 million tons per year. The sector has not only ensured food security, but also exports between 6 and 7 million tons of rice per year with a turnover of around US$ 3 billion.

Along with the reduction of the paddy acreage, the rice strain structure has changed positively, meeting the market demand. In the key rice production areas of the Mekong River Delta, the rate of using special aromatic rice varieties and high-quality rice increased from 2%-6%.

The proportion of high-quality rice accounts for nearly 80% of the export rice output. As a result, the average export rice price this year is usually $50 per ton, higher than the previous year, and sometimes higher than the Thai rice price in the same type.

However, the rice restructuring strategy still has some issues, of which, the land use planning of each region has not been implemented thoroughly, the conversion from rice cultivated land to other crops is still slow; among others.

The productive organization lacks sustainability. The overuse of fertilizers and pesticides increases costs and negatively affects the environment. Sale of rice depends on traders with unstable prices and high risks, Mr. Dinh said. The quality of rice is not homogeneous, which affects the value and reputation of Vietnamese paddy.

To tackle the above limitations, the Department of Cultivation continues implementing the project in the direction of improving efficiency and sustainable development.

From the business view of point, the representative from Loc Troi Group shared his view that the rice industry restructuring is only effective when it helps cutting production costs and improving income for farmers.

Dr. Bui Ba Bong, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that to effectively restructure the rice industry, it is necessary to synchronously implement three groups of solutions which are institutions and policies; science and technology development and investment in infrastructure.

The Hanoitimes – Vietnam is expected to export more than six million tons of rice this year.

Vietnam’s 5% broken rice price has risen to around US$500-505 per ton in early 2021, the highest since December 2011.

Rice for exports at Can Tho province. Photo: Dung Minh

“Such a high price indicates high quality of Vietnamese rice,” said Vice Chairman of Vietnam Food Association (VFA) Do Ha Nam, pointing out growing demand for rice from major markets, including the Philippines, as a key factor for higher prices.

Since the beginning of 2021, major rice buyers of the region, including China, Bangladesh and the Philippines are importing a large amount of rice. Meanwhile, Thailand, one of the world’s largest rice exporters, could see its export volume reduced this year given an appreciation of the Bath value.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Import and Export Department, expected the current Covid-19 situation would be a major factor keeping high demand for rice in the global market.

Sharing the same view, General Director of Trung An Hi-tech Farming Company Pham Thanh Binh noted the outlook for Vietnam rice exports remain bright thanks to the country’s recent signing of new free trade agreements.

Under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), EU country members have committed to allocating tariff quota of nearly 10,000 tons of rice for Vietnam in 2021, while the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) would reduce import tariff for Vietnamese rice into the UK to 0%.

To ensure sustainable rice export in the future, agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy suggested local producers should focus on product quality with high value (aromatic rice, Japonica rice) and study the target market’s preferences to ensure efficiency in the trading process.

“Otherwise, Vietnam would face difficulties in competing with low quality rice from India or Pakistan,” added Mr. Thuy.

This year, the VFA forecast Vietnam to export more than six million tons of rice. In 2020, the country exported 6.15 million tons of rice worth US$3 billion, down 3.5% year-on-year in volume but up 9.3% in value.

As of January 18, the MoIT has issued rice export licenses for 205 traders.

The information was released at a meeting organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the agricultural production in the early 2021 season on February 18.

Presently, traders are proposing VND6,800-VND7,000 per kilogram of high quality unhusked rice; VND7,000- VND7,500 a kilogram of fragrant unhusked rice and VND7,500-VND8,000 per kilogram of sticky rice. With such prices, farmers enjoy profit of approximately VND30 million (US$ 1,301) a hectare of paddy. As scheduled, farmers in the Mekong Delta will harvest 550,000 total hectares of paddy in the end of February.

Le Thanh Tung, Vice Head of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the Mekong Delta region has planted more than 1.5 million hectares of paddy for the winter-spring season, a decrease of 30,000 hectares compared to prior winter-spring season with productivity of nearly 69.31 quintal per hectare of paddy and an output of 10.5 million tons.

Associate Professor Tran Ba Hoang, Head of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, noted that saltwater penetration is 6- 13 kilometer farer than previous years. In Ham Luong River, Co Chien River, and Hau River, saltwater can intrude 56km, 51 km, and 45 km further inland respectively.

It has been forecast that the coastal areas in the region will face shortage of fresh water in the end of February and March causing difficulties for production and residents’ daily life. Around 37,800 hectares of winter-spring season and 40,000 hectares of fruit orchards in coastal districts in the region will suffer water shortage.

Therefore, the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research proposed provinces in the Mekong Delta to reserve fresh water for the dry season as well as re-structure agricultural plan appropriately especially in coastal districts. Local administrations should quickly build dams to fight against saltwater intrusion and reserve water in canals and irrigation ditches for fruit orchards.

Moreover, local administrators should keep an eye on drought and salinity development to have timely announcement for farmers in a bid to avoid losses.

Agriculture Deputy Minister Le Minh Hoan said that in the upcoming time, the Mekong Delta needs a long-term strategy for agricultural production with focus on linking 13 departments of agriculture and rural development to share experience in battle against drought and saltwater intrusion.

Additionally, he said that a center to introduce agricultural products of the Mekong Delta should be set up in Hanoi in order to increase consumption. Presently, Dong Thap Province is the first locality in the Mekong Delta which has built a center to introduce agricultural products in Vietnam’s capital city having good sign at first.

HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Farmers in the Mekong Delta have had a bumper harvest of giant river prawns at good prices because of favourable weather conditions and high market demand.

Under a special cultivation model, farmers breed the giant prawn and grow rice on the same field without using chemicals. The prawns eat natural food in the rice fields.

In Soc Trang province, shrimp–rice farmers are now entering the peak harvest season.

Le Viet Thang, who has a one-hectare rice field in Soc Trang’s Phuoc Long District, said he had a rice yield of seven tonnes per hectare, higher than in the past.

The profit from harvesting prawn and rice this year was about 50 million VND (2,150 USD) per hectare, he said.

Tran Van An, Deputy Chairman of the Phuoc Long district People’s Committee, said the rainy season ended late, so there was enough freshwater for the rice fields.

Local farmers used quality seeds and followed proper plant scheduling, which helped to increase yields.

The environmentally friendly shrimp – rice model reduces production costs, increases yield and profit.

In the rainy season, Bac Lieu has nearly 36,000ha of fields allocated for the shrimp – rice farming model, up nearly 3,000ha against the previous rainy season.

Of the figure, farmers have harvested more than 20,000ha so far.

The cultivation model has an average prawn yield of 250 – 300kg per hectare per crop and 4 – 4.5 tonnes of rice per hectare per crop, according to Bac Lieu authorities.

In Ca Mau province, farmers in Thoi Binh district, which is the province’s largest giant river prawn producer, has about 12,000ha of giant river prawn – rice farming fields.

Nguyen Huu Canh, who lives in Tan Bang commune’s Kenh 6 hamlet in Thoi Binh,  has harvested giant river prawns in his one-hectare rice field and earned a profit of 20 million VND (862 USD).

He began to release about 20,000 giant river prawn fry into rice fields in June this year and harvested about 250kg of giant river prawns after breeding for six months, he said.

Huynh Van Dung, head of the Kenh 6 Hamlet Farmers Association, said: “The model has high economic efficiency, is easy to implement and is sustainable, so many farmers have done it.”

Farmers buy giant river prawn fry in Ca Mau and other provinces such as An Giang province and Can Tho city for breeding, he said.

Traders buy the market-size giant river prawns at a price of 100,000 – 130,000 VND (4.3 – 5.6 USD) a kilogramme.

The price may increase significantly near Tet (Lunar New Year), which falls on February 5 this year, according to traders.

In Tra Vinh province, farmers began harvesting giant river prawns in rice fields early this month.

Chau Thanh, Cau Ngang, Tra Cu and Duyen Hai districts and Duyen Hai town are Tra Vinh’s major giant river prawn breeding areas.

Chau Thanh has more than 1,100ha of rice fields in which farmers breed all male giant river prawns, the largest in the province.

Nguyen Thanh Thuong, Deputy Chairman of the Long Hoa communal People’s Committee in Chau Thanh, said this is the sixth year that many farmers in the commune have bred giant river prawn and organic rice on one field.

Many aquaculture farmers have also switched from breeding two black-tiger shrimp crops a year to one black-tiger shrimp crop and one giant river prawn crop a year, he said.

Investors who produce shrimp seeds, including male giant river prawn seeds, can take advantage of the province’s preferential policies.

The model of breeding all male giant river prawns yields a higher profit than that of breeding mixed gender giant river prawns. The former has a higher survival and growth rate.-VNS/VNA

VNA

The Hanoitimes – In 2021, the trade ministry eyes an increase of 4-5% in trade turnover from an estimated US$543.9 billion last year.

A surge of nearly 20% year-on-year in export turnover in the first half of January to US$12.9 billion signal a bright outlook for Vietnam’s exports this year.

Cargo handling at Hai Phong port. Photo: Cong Hung.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) revealed in the first 15 days of 2021, Vietnam recorded four groups of export staples with turnover of over US$1 billion, one group more than in the same period of last year. This newly-included group was machinery and equipment, which posted an export turnover of US$1.45 billion, up 72% year-on-year.

The three other groups were phones and parts with exports of US$2.86 billion, up US$1.5 billion year-on-year; computers, electronic products and parts with US$1.7 billion, up 10%; and textile with US$1.23 billion, down US$200 million.

Rice, one of Vietnam’s major agricultural export products, received positive news when the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) held a ceremony on January 13 marking the export of Vietnam’s first batch of rice in 2021 by Trung An Hi-tech Farming Company, located in the southern city of Can Tho.

This special shipment with volume of 1,600 tons will be delivered to Malaysia and Singapore, those among Vietnam’s top 10 rice buyers.

On top of that, Trung An is preparing to deliver an order of nearly 2,000 tons of rice to Germany.

Meanwhile, local traders are preparing for the export of seafood and fruits to the EU, US, Japan, Canada, Australia and China to take advantage of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP).

Effective utilization of FTAs: key for Vietnam’s export success

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) attributed a number of factors to the positive export outlook for Vietnam in 2021, including recent trade deals (CPTPP, EVFTA, RCEP, UKVFTA) that Vietnam is a member of, an ongoing shift in investment capital from regional countries to Vietnam, and the formation of new global supply chains.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said to support the realization of Vietnam’s GDP growth target of 6.5% in 2021, the industry sector would aim at an expansion of the index of industrial production (IIP) at 8% year-on-year, and trade turnover to grow by 4-5%.

“The trade ministry continues to prioritize trade promotion activities and help local firms utilize preferential treatments from free trade agreements that Vietnam is a part of,” said Mr. Tuan Anh.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) would provide firms with updated information on issues that could impact export activities, such as changes in import policies, technical trade barriers, and risks in payment, he added.

Experts suggested as a member of next-generation trade deals, Vietnam holds favorable advantages to accelerate the economic recovery process, including exports.

Economist Nguyen Minh Phong urged local companies to focus on export products with high potential in foreign markets, including agricultural and industrial processing products.

“It is essential for Vietnamese enterprises to take on IT and e-commerce to expand their reach to export markets,” he noted.

Vice Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said one of key priorities at the moment is to enhance local traders’ resilience against the Covid-19 pandemic, while providing supports for enterprises for effective utilization of preferential treatments from FTAs.

Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc said the MoIT should play an active role in ensuring the effective implementation of FTAs.

“Enterprises, however, must adopt a new mindset in engaging trading activities and boost capabilities in taking part in global supply chains,” stated Mr. Loc.

In 2020, Vietnam recorded trade turnover of US$543.9 billion, representing an increase of 5.1% year-on-year. This resulted in an all-time high trade surplus of US$19.1 billion, far exceeding the previous record figure of US$10.9 billion one year earlier.