The country earned 3.66 billion USD from exporting rice in the period, up 40.4% year-on-year, the ministry has reported.

The result was attributed to the increasing price of Vietnamese export rice, and the decreasing rice supplies in many markets during the reviewed period, it said.

The Philippines was the largest buyer of Vietnamese rice products in the first eight months, accounting for over 40% of the total rice export. China and Indonesia ranked second and third, respectively.

Additionally, positive growth in rice exports has been also recorded in countries in the European Union, such as Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium, and African nations such as Ghana and Angola. The Vietnam Food Association said that, there is ample room for rice exports to grow, especially as the Philippines needs to import an additional 1.1 million tons, while Indonesia plans to buy 2.3 million tons by the end of the year. Vietnam is expected to pocket some 4.5 billion USD this year from the agricultural product’s exports, according to insiders.

Localities within the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are devising strategies to tackle the anticipated early onset of saltwater intrusion, projected to occur soon.

These strategies aim to secure adequate water for the winter-spring rice harvest and reduce the damage inflicted by drought and salinity.

 The rainy season this year is predicted to have remained in the Mekong Delta only during the previous and the current month, concluding midway through next month.

 Consequently, throughout the dry spell of this year and the next, the intrusion of saltwater is expected to appear a month sooner than the multi-year average, commencing in mid to late December.

 Director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRR) Tran Ba Hoang said that the total rainfall this year was forecast to be about 1,350mm, only one% higher than 2015 (the year of severe drought), and about 13% lower than the average of many years.

The Mekong Delta province of Long An is striving to have 60,000 hectares of rice under cultivation utilizing high-tech equipment and practices by 2025, according to Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Thanh Truyen.

Zoning off land for high-tech rice will help form a stable large-scale material area that contributes to improving the value of the rice supply chain and ensuring food security, he said, describing it as a bold step for effective rice production and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

 The high-tech rice farming in Long An has proved efficient. To date, the province is home to nearly 47,200 hectares of rice cultivated with advanced technologies, accounting for 78.6% of the goal set for 2025.

 The areas yield some 7,200-7,500 kilogrammes per hectare, or 300 kilogrammes higher than those planted with traditional methods.

 The high-tech cultivation model helps farmers save an average of 1.4 million VND (57.61 USD) in production costs, while earning 27 million VND in profit for each hectare, or 3.2 million VND higher than other models.

The Vietnamese agricultural sector is calling on all parties to join in the sustainable development of 1 million ha of low-emission high-quality rice production in the Mekong Delta so as to improve the quality and efficiency of the rice industry.

So said Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Crop Production Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, at a workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on October 2 to discuss the role of the public - private partnership in the implementation of a project on sustainably developing 1 million ha of low-emission high-quality rice production in association with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030.

 Tung said that as the rice bowl of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta not only helps guarantee national food security but also substantially contributes to annual rice exports.

T.Huong

Source: VNA