Heavy losses in rice and catfish are making farmers miserable.
Heavy losses in rice and catfish farming are the reality in the Mekong Delta, leaving farmers in a "half-dead, half-alive" situation.
In recent days, in the Mekong Delta, rice prices have fallen so dramatically that farmers are wondering whether to sell them or feed them to ducks, because fresh rice has just been sold by farmers in Hau Giang at the field for only 2,800 VND/kg, which is considered "as cheap as sweet potato leaves".
As for Pangasius, farmers are in a deadlock situation as they are raising fish because of heavy losses. Pangasius, which used to be the strength of the Mekong Delta, has now become a burden for farmers as they have suffered losses in raising and selling fish.
The reality that farmers are facing is like what they say to each other recently: "Last year 7 died, 3 left, this year 2 died, 1 left".
It can be said that never before have farmers in the Mekong Delta felt as exhausted as they do now. “Why?” is the question and concern of the farmers.
Many farmers in the Mekong Delta are frustrated as rice and tra fish production have been in a difficult situation for the past two years, but management agencies and authorities at all levels have yet to come up with any specific solutions, leaving farmers' lives uncertain depending on the season.
In the past 2 years, the production value per hectare of rice land has been stagnant; the income of rice farmers is gradually decreasing because the selling price (output) has not increased but the input costs such as materials and fertilizers have been increasing continuously. Rice farmers still do not know when they will get the 30% profit that the managers have committed.
For pangasius, fish farmers are currently losing 3,000 VND/kg, the reason is the high price of feed. The price of agricultural materials and feed is the biggest cost in production, affecting the cost price. Many people do not have capital, buy materials in a "book" form, and the agent adds interest to the selling price, which is calculated higher than the bank interest. The cost of production increases, and after selling, they are left empty-handed. It is known that low input materials and raw materials will contribute to reducing the cost price, but in recent years in the Mekong Delta, the price of materials increases at the beginning of the season and farmers are the ones who have to bear the brunt.
While the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta is facing many difficulties, rice farmers and fish farmers are exhausted because of unstable prices, the more they produce, the more they lose, and they encounter many difficulties in accessing loans, forcing many families to accept borrowing from "black credit".
Although it is known that the current difficulties of the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta have many causes, many experts also frankly say that an important cause is that we have loosened management, developed without planning, especially without a sustainable support mechanism for farmers. The policies applied in the past such as temporary purchase of rice, preferential loans are considered very good but they are only applied when farmers are facing difficulties.
Policy makers all know that only when the country builds a "high-quality agriculture" will the country have a sustainable agricultural development, capable of integration and competition, and rice growers and fish farmers will have a stable and prosperous life. "High-quality agriculture" here is analyzed by many experts to have many meanings, including the fact that the mechanisms and policies set out for agricultural development must also be of "high quality" to be able to turn the set goals into reality, and the specific goal taken as a measure is the income and life of farmers getting better and better. To do so, more than ever, all resources and minds need to be focused on implementing the direction of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung: "The Mekong Delta needs to sustainably develop the rice and tra fish brand".
However, to do these things requires a lot of time. In the immediate future, rice growers and catfish farmers in the Mekong Delta are eagerly waiting for management agencies to come up with specific solutions to overcome the situation of good harvests but farmers are not very happy, but on the contrary, they are "distorted" because rice grains and fish are facing many difficulties, directly affecting their lives./.
According to VOV - LC
