According to an expert from Vietnam Securities Company Limited Bank for Foreign Trade (VCBS), the country's rice industry enjoys favourable factors, such as weather and geographical advantage.

The prolonged drought in China has caused a decrease in the country's output for the 2021-2022 crop, leading to an anticipated six million tonne increase in rice imports for the 2022-23 crop.

Meanwhile, inventories in the Philippines have declined due to typhoons and high fertiliser costs, leading to increased rice imports.

The cultivated area in India has also dropped due to drought, making the decrease in supply - the main factor for the forecast of the global rice deficit.

Despite these challenges, the hydrological situation in Vietnam has been stable, with heavy rain in the past year and a neutral outlook in the first half of this year, leading to sound output.

VCBS appreciates the possibility that Vietnam will benefit from the upward trend in rice prices due to limited supply and the shift in demand from India this year.

The rising food demand has pushed the price of Indian rice exports to the highest level in nearly two years.

A Vietnamese trader also noted that global demand for rice has been increasing due to concerns about global instability.

The total commodity of rice is expected to reach 4.1 billion tonnes in the first six months of this year, with rice exports reaching 390,000 tonnes in January.

The consumption of commodity rice in the remaining five months is expected to reach 3.73 million tonnes, not including the amount of rice imported from India and the amount of rice flowing from Cambodia to Vietnam.

VCBS also reported that European countries had eased sanctions and opened their doors to Russian fertiliser exporters, while China has loosened its fertiliser export quota from June last year.

This development is forecasted to decrease input costs for rice production, contributing to an improvement in the profit margin of enterprises.

Although exports grew last year, the cost of rice production also increased sharply, "eroding" the profits of many businesses.

The Vietnamese Food Association (VFA) reported that the cost of rice production rose sharply last year, pushing up the purchase price of rice and commodity rice and putting pressure on rice exporters.

Despite the challenges faced last year, analysts expect Vietnamese rice exporters to be more favourable this year as rice prices remain high and many production costs and rice exports gradually decrease, increasing the profit margin of enterprises in the rice industry.

The Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI) on March 24 signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Syngenta Vietnam Limited to research and develop plant varieties, especially purebred rice varieties. Accordingly, Syngenta will finance the institute’s research on the best purebred rice varieties from now till 2025. The two sides will also cooperate in the fields of plant protection, covering the research, testing and evaluation of pesticides.

To satisfy requirements in the transformation of the rice sector, the institute has adjusted its research strategy, its Director Tran Ngoc Thach said, adding that apart from productivity, resilience to insects and quality, attention has been paid to issues regarding fertilisers, greenhouse gas emissions and tolerance to the environment during the research of rice varieties.

Vietnam exported 7.13 million tonnes of rice for 3.4 billion USD last year, up 13.8% in volume and 5.1% in value year on year, making it among the top three rice exporters globally, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

This year, Vietnam’s rice export is estimated at about 6.5-7 million tonnes thanks to higher demand for Vietnam’s quality rice.

Technologies and policies for high-quality and low emission rice transformation topped the agenda at a seminar hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi on Tuesday. 

Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said the seminar is very important for the implementation of a project to develop one million ha of high-quality rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta.

“Green growth in agriculture centers around sustainable cultivation, emission reduction, and farmers’ welfare. The one million ha rice project is challenging and requires time, a specific roadmap, and advice of experts and organizations,” said Mr. Nam.

The project is expected to shift rice farming to a leading sector in agricultural production with a multi-valued approach.

Most provinces in the Mekong Delta have signed up for the project and several Japanese firms have asked to participate, according to the Ministry of  Agriculture and Rural Development.

A new project aims to form a stable and large-scale raw material area for rice production in the Mekong Delta, creating favourable conditions for modern and multi-purpose methods.

The project will sustainably develop one million hectares of high-quality rice with green growth in the Mekong Delta.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said this at a workshop on “Technological Solutions to Convert High-Quality and Low-Emission Rice for Vietnam” held on Tuesday in Hanoi.

He said that the Mekong Delta was the country’s granary.

Rice production in the delta in recent years has been stable at about 24 to 25 million tonnes, contributing over 50% of rice production and over 90% of rice exports from the country.

“It creates jobs and income for over 1.5 million agricultural households. It also makes a major contribution to ensuring national food security and promotes the rice processing and export industry,” he said.

However, rice production in the delta still faces difficulties and potential risks, such as low output and income for rice growers, low quality and competitiveness of exported rice, and rice production areas that may be narrowed due to climate change.

T.Huong

Source: Vitic/VNA