This year's summer-autumn rice crop in Nghe An is being purchased by traders at the highest price in the past 3 years. This is truly a joy for rice growers, because Nghe An produces over 1.1 million tons of rice each year, of which only 1/3 is used for food, the rest is surplus. The reason for the price increase is that Vietnam's rice exports have increased both in output and selling price, causing domestic rice prices to be "competed" by traders. However, most of the rice in Nghe An is not for export but for domestic consumption, to make vermicelli, cakes... even as feed for poultry and livestock.
A question that many people ask is: Vietnam is the third largest rice exporter in the world, so where is Nghe An in the current rice export market? Answering this question is not difficult, because according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, each year, 6 enterprises in Nghe An export about 30,000 tons of rice. However, all exported rice is purchased by Nghe An traders from the Mekong Delta provinces. To ask more clearly, has Nghe An rice been exported yet? Yes, but only a small amount to Laos.
The above issue requires all levels, sectors and farmers to make great efforts to "position Nghe An rice". Obviously, the rice output in Nghe An reaching over 1.1 million tons per year, of which 2/3 is sold to the market, is a positive signal, meaning that rice production has moved towards commodity production. But to increase value, rice must meet export quality requirements. The Government has approved the Strategy for developing Vietnam's rice export market to 2030 (Decision No. 583/QD-TTg dated May 26, 2023 of the Prime Minister). That is one of the important factors to improve the quality of rice in Nghe An.
Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 6128/UBND-KT (dated July 26, 2023) on implementing the strategy to develop the rice export market according to Decision No. 583/QD-TTg. Previously, in fact, many enterprises and cooperatives in the province had built linkages to produce high-quality rice and organic rice associated with processing and building the Nghe An rice brand. That opening is gradually contributing to the introduction of high-quality rice varieties into cultivation. At the same time, actively applying scientific and technical advances in production, care, harvesting, and post-harvest preservation to ensure the quality of rice for export. The problem is that there needs to be stronger participation from all levels, sectors and rice growers to widely deploy high-quality rice varieties for export, thus quickly positioning the position of rice grains, contributing to increasing farmers' income. Nghe An's agricultural sector has had a long time racing with productivity, but to position products well in the new period, a race to improve product quality is needed to be able to export.
Article: Nguyen Nguyen
Illustration photo: TP – PH
