Increase competitive value for the rice industry

​(News Portal – Dong Nai) – Currently, many localities in the province are focusing on harvesting the fall-winter crop. The price of dry rice sold to traders is 9.5-10 thousand VND/kg, some specialty rice types are priced at 12-14 thousand VND/kg, this is an unprecedentedly high purchase price, allowing rice farmers to gain a lot of profit.  

Straws left over after rice harvest in Vinh Cuu district are rolled up for reuse in agricultural production. Photo by: Song Le 

In 2023, rice farmers in the province gained a lot of profits due to the rice export market increasing in both output and value. This is an advantage for rice farmers to continue promoting the application of mechanization towards modern technology in production, expanding the planting area of high-quality rice according to the circular economy model to constantly increase value for Vietnamese rice.

Exports saw all time high

According to data from the General Statistics Office, accumulated in the 11 months of 2023, Vietnam's rice exports were estimated to reach nearly 7.8 million tons in output and more than 4.4 billion USD in value, an increase of 16.2% and 36.3% respectively over the same period in 2022. This is a record increase over the same period in recent years. Vietnamese rice also has the highest price compared to the other major rice exporters in the world such as Thailand, Pakistan...

Accordingly, in recent harvests, rice farmers have gained huge amount of profit because rice sales have continuously reached record figures compared to previous years. Mr. Nguyen Huu Heng, a farmer in Song Ray commune, Cam My district, said that the current price of rice sold right at the field is 9.5 thousand VND/kg, an increase of about 3 thousand VND/kg compared to the same period last year. This is a much higher price than the general level in recent years. The rice harvests from the beginning of the year until now have sold at higher prices than the same period every year. During the harvest season, traders race to buy rice from farmers thanks to increased rice exports in both output and value.

It is forecasted that rice prices in the export market are likely to continue to increase in the near future in the context that global rice demand tends to increase over the years, while supply from rice-growing countries decreases due to climate change. Even more so when recently, India imposed a ban on rice exports and the demand for rice imports from many countries increased.

The rice industry has achieved these outstanding results thanks to the major contribution of science, technology and innovation. Specifically, regarding rice varieties, Vietnamese scientists have mastered the technology and created a diverse set of rice varieties, suitable for each region and each specific goal, such as high-quality rice varieties serving export, alum- and salinity-resistant rice varieties adapted to climate change, high-yield rice varieties for processing... Regarding intensive farming processes, advanced techniques and integrated rice cultivation processes have been developed quite synchronously and have increasingly been perfecting. Vietnam has also researched and mastered harvesting technologies, applying synchronous mechanization in all stages, to reduce losses during harvest and post-harvest. 

Farmer harvests rice in the fall-winter crop of 2023 in Cam My district. Photo by: Song Le 
​

Building a rice production value chain  

Vietnamese rice has made quite a leap in such a short time. However, current rice development faces many difficulties such as: not only having to ensure quality, food hygiene and safety, but also having to adapt to the requirements of emission reduction, circular agriculture... To develop the rice production industry to achieve high added value, sustainability, and low emissions, continuing to invest in research, development, and application of new, advanced, and environmentally friendly technologies in all step of the rice production value chain is an inevitable and important solution.

According to a report by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province, rice is one of the top crops in terms of mechanization application in production. Specifically, currently 100% of the rice land area has been using machinery and equipment from land preparation to harvesting. In particular, models applying high technology to production stages are gradually being replicated. For example, rice farmers in the province have used drones to spray plant protection chemicals.

Mr. Le Thanh Tuan, a farmer investing in mechanical services in rice harvesting in Tan Binh commune (Vinh Cuu district) shared that in the past, after harvest, farmers often burned straw right in the field, which was both wasteful and harmful since it causes pollution. In recent years, left over straw has been reused in agricultural production activities such as growing straw mushrooms, using straw to cover tree stumps to limit weeds and make organic fertilizer... According to Mr. Tuan: " I invested in a straw rolling machine to provide straw rolling services for farmers and to buy this straw to store in warehouses for year-round sales. Market demand for straw rolls is increasingly high."

At the International Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation on Rice that recently took place in Hau Giang province, Mr. Nguyen Duy Thuan, General Director of Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company (An Giang province) commented, the expansion of high-quality rice fields, reducing emissions not only helps increase exports, raise income and ensure people's health, but is also very suitable for the circular economy model. In particular, high-quality by-products from rice production such as straw and rice husks are of better quality than conventional products. For example, high-quality rice straw will have nutritional residue, making it very suitable for growing straw mushrooms. Rice husks through processing technology can completely replace natural gas. If it is a by-product of high-quality rice, processed rice husks can even be exported.