Spring rice crop in many localities of Nghe An has low yield, selling price decreases

Currently, the price of fresh rice purchased at the field is only 4,500 - 4,700 VND/kg, down 700 VND/kg compared to last spring crop. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Spring cropThis year, Mr. Nguyen Van Tu (Hamlet 3, Hung Phuc Commune, Hung Nguyen District) worked on a sample of rice. If in previous years, the average yield was 3.2-3.5 quintals per sao, this year it decreased by nearly half.

“One field yields more than 1.5 tons of rice. The weather is erratic, there is a lot of rain and the house is short of people, so after harvesting, the fresh rice is sold right in the field to save drying time. However, the price of rice is too cheap, only 4,500-4,700 VND/kg, a decrease of 500-700 VND/kg compared to the previous spring crop. Meanwhile, the cost of seeds, land preparation, harvester rental, fertilizer, and pesticides have all doubled or even tripled compared to last year. In fact, this year is a loss,” said Mr. Tu.

Harvesting early in the hot sunny season, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong's family in Nam Anh commune (Nam Dan) dried and winnowed 2 tons of pure rice seeds. After calculating the amount of rice for food and livestock, there was more than 1 ton left, so she called traders to buy it to get money to cover the cost of phosphate fertilizer owed at the beginning of the season and invest in the upcoming summer-autumn crop.

The price of rice in the field is so low that many people decide not to sell it but bring it home to dry and wait for the price to increase. Photo: Thanh Phuc

However, Ms. Huong said: “The price of rice is too cheap, only 6,500 VND/kg dried and cleaned, nearly 1,000 VND lower than last year. Therefore, I am not in a hurry to sell rice, waiting to see if the price will increase in a few months before selling. I will borrow money for immediate expenses…”.

Spring is the main crop of the year, the yield, output and quality of rice is better than other crops, traders also focus on buying more spring rice. However, this year, due to erratic weather, rice blast disease has caused many areas to have a bad spring rice crop, many grains are empty and the quality of rice is not as good as in previous years. In addition, when the rice has ripened and is ready for harvest, there are consecutive unseasonal rains causing the rice to be flooded, the appearance is also worse. Therefore, the price of rice is not as good as in previous years.

Currently, traders are also buying sparingly due to the sluggish consumption of rice in the Northern market. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Nguyen Ba Khang, a trader specializing in purchasing rice in Cam Son commune (Anh Son) said: “Currently, I purchase rice from Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong, Anh Son areas. I mainly buy dried rice, cleaned by fanning, the price of rice fluctuates from 6,500 to 6,700 VND/kg. Fresh rice is limited in purchase because this year, there are many broken and uneaten grains, a lot of rain, and flooding, so the purchase of fresh rice is much lost, low in price. This year's rice price is generally lower than last year by 700 to 1,000 VND/kg. Firstly, this season's rice is of lower quality; secondly, agents in the northern provinces purchase less, so we also control the amount we buy, buy selectively, mainly to buy and resell to farmers.”

Traders said that there is currently a lot of rice in stock so they have to buy selectively, mainly buying dry rice. Photo: Thanh Phuc

However, in localities implementingproduction links,With purebred rice varieties and high-quality hybrid rice, which have outstanding productivity and are guaranteed to be sold at high prices, people are very excited.

Specifically, in Hung Nguyen district, in this spring crop, in 18 communes and towns, 35 large fields have been built to link production of rice varieties such as: VNR 20; DT80; HD 11; Thien Uu 8; Bac Thinh; CNC11; P6; TH 8; AC5; Thien Huong 6; TBR 225. With a yield of 3.5 quintals/sao, rice is purchased by cooperatives and companies at a price of 7,500 to 8,000 VND/kg of dry rice.

Or like in Dien Lien commune (Dien Chau), people produce a rice variety in the field that is purchased by Dien Lien Agricultural Cooperative at a stable price, much higher than the general level. Mr. Vo Van Giap - Director of Dien Lien Agricultural Cooperative said: "This spring crop, Dien Lien commune has over 200 hectares of rice under the form of association, with a yield of 7 tons/ha. The price we buy from people is 6,800 VND to 7,000 VND/kg of fresh rice (higher than the general average of about 1,500 to 2,000 VND/kg). Accordingly, for each hectare of rice, people earn about 20 million VND."

The rice production linkage model in Hung Nguyen is being replicated. Photo: Thanh Phuc

From the above facts, it can be seen thatforming large model fieldsand linkage in production is necessary. It ensures quality rice varieties, productivity and stable output, reasonable prices, helping farmers to produce profitably and feel secure in their fields.