Sharp price drop, Nghe An farmers stockpile rice waiting for increase

Up to this point, Nghe An has completed the spring harvest. According to the assessment, this year's spring crop is clearly a bumper crop. Thanks to the right planting time frame, using high-quality seeds and favorable weather conditions, and few pests and diseases, the care work has been significantly reduced. On average, the yield is about 3.2 - 3.5 quintals/sao, with many areas reaching 4 quintals/sao.

However, rice prices have dropped sharply compared to previous years. If at the beginning of the season, the price of fresh rice in the field was still at 5,500 - 5,600 VND/kg, then by the end of the season it was only 5,200 - 5,300 VND/kg, a decrease of 1,000 - 1,200 VND/kg compared to the same period last year. This decline left many households unable to react, especially when the weather during the harvest season was unusual and unseasonal rains appeared in succession.

Ms. Tran Thi Ty, a farmer in Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district, said: “My family has two fields, this crop is very good, the yield is about 4 quintals per sao. But it rained so we couldn’t dry the rice, so we had to sell the fresh rice in the field for 5,300 VND/kg. I know it’s a loss, but if we leave it for too long it will get moldy, so there’s no other way.”

Many households, seeing the price as too low, are not in a hurry to sell, although storing rice is also difficult. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang in Kim Lien commune cultivates up to 5 hectares of rice fields, with a yield of up to 17 tons. She has rented a dryer and put the rice in storage to wait for the price. “With such a low price, it is not profitable. I hire someone to harvest, dry, then put it in storage, waiting for a better price to sell. Although it is more difficult, I still hope to recover a little. Currently, the price of dried rice is only 8,000 VND/kg, so I have not sold yet,” Ms. Hang shared.

However, not everyone has a warehouse to store rice. Many households are used to selling rice right after harvesting, so they do not prepare a storage plan. For example, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha in Tao Son commune, Anh Son district, after harvesting, he filled the containers but still had more than 2 tons left over with no place to store.

“I have to temporarily store it in a sack and leave it on the porch. I am afraid of mold if I leave it for too long, so I am selling it even though I know the price is low,” said Mr. Ha. This situation is quite common, especially among households that farm a lot of rice, sell fresh rice, and are not familiar with post-harvest preservation.

On the purchasing side, traders are also in a difficult situation. Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuan - a long-time rice buyer in Nam Dan district - said that this season he collected about 1,200 tons of rice. The rice quality is good, the grains are firm, and there are few broken grains, but the output is slow.

“The initial price was still quite good, but by the end of the season, when a large amount of rice arrived, the northern market slowed down, and the price had to drop to 300 - 400 VND/kg. The market was not as attractive as in previous years, while the supply was abundant," said Mr. Thuan.

In fact, the situation of "good harvest, low price" is no longer strange in agricultural production, but this year's spring crop witnessed a deeper decrease than expected.

The main reason is that supply exceeds demand during the peak harvest season, along with the impact from the domestic and world rice markets. Vietnam's rice export prices are on the decline due to a sharp increase in global supply, while import demand from major markets has significantly decreased.

Notably, India - the world's largest rice exporter - has lifted its export ban, putting further pressure on the global rice market. At the same time, Indonesia and the Philippines - two major customers of Vietnamese rice - are promoting food self-sufficiency and reducing imports.

These developments have severely affected domestic rice prices. Although traders continue to buy all of the rice from farmers, they cannot maintain high prices when the consumption market is unstable. Meanwhile, farmers are still the ones who suffer the most, because rice output still depends mainly on traders, and there is no close connection with processing or exporting enterprises.

Faced with this situation, many opinions say that there needs to be a fundamental solution to stabilize the output of rice. Not only post-harvest support such as dryers and warehouses, but also the need to promote chain linkages, encourage businesses to invest in deep processing, domestic consumption and export.

At the same time, market forecasts must be more realistic, helping people adjust production appropriately, avoiding the current situation of congestion and price pressure.