The Mekong Delta is entering the first harvest of the 2024-2025 winter-spring rice crop. This is the biggest rice crop of the year for the people of the Mekong Delta. After the Lunar New Year 2025, the price of rice increased slightly from 200 - 400 VND/kg, making farmers "both happy and worried".
Rice prices have increased again after Tet but are still lower than the same time last year because countries have not bought much - Photo: T.HUYEN
However, this year’s rice prices are lower than last year. According to businesses, some businesses opened, when contracts with small quantities at the beginning of the new year helped rice prices increase slightly but it was difficult to increase when the harvest season began. However, farmers still made a profit because rice yields in some areas were higher than before.
Rice prices increase but remain low
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhon (Vinh Khanh commune, Thoai Son district, An Giang) said that in the winter-spring crop of 2024 - 2025, his family planted over 8 hectares of OM380 rice variety. Although there is still more than a month until harvest, he is quite worried because the price of rice is more "unstable" than last year.
Compared to before Tet, the price of OM380 rice has increased by 300 - 400 VND/kg, fluctuating at 4,800 - 4,900 VND/kg but not as expected. "If this winter-spring crop, the rice yield is less than 1 ton of rice/cong with this price, farmers will not make much profit.
"If the rice yield is more than 1 ton/acre, there will be a slight profit. This year, the weather is favorable for farmers to grow rice, so we hope the harvest will yield high yields," said Mr. Nhon.
According to Mr. Tran Van Bao (Khanh Binh Tay Bac commune, Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau), he has just finished harvesting more than 2 hectares of ST25 rice. Although this crop did not have a good price, the yield was high due to favorable weather. "After the rice crop, my family left some to dry for food, and sold the rest. Now the price of rice is 9,000 VND/kg, but if we dry it again, there will be no place to store it, so there will be a lot of loss and it will be a waste of labor," said Mr. Bao.
In the early winter-spring rice crop of 2025, the whole province of Ca Mau has more than 35,220 hectares. Of which, Tran Van Thoi district planted the most with more than 28,900 hectares, and has so far harvested about 4,100 hectares. According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Khai - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tran Van Thoi district, the price of rice has increased by a few hundred VND/kg compared to before Tet, in some places it has increased by about 1,000 VND/kg but the price is still lower than the same period last year.
Of which, the price of ST24 and ST25 rice sold at farmers' households ranges from 8,600 - 8,900 VND/kg, down 2,000 - 3,000 VND/kg compared to the same period; the price of Dai Thom 8 ranges from 6,200 - 6,700 VND/kg, down 1,500 - 2,000 VND/kg compared to the same period. The price of OM (5451, 576) ranges from 6,000 - 6,500 VND/kg, down 1,000 - 1,500 VND/kg compared to the same period.
Rice prices unlikely to increase sharply during peak harvest
Talking to us, the leader of a rice export company in Kien Giang province said that the price of Dai Thom 8 rice is fluctuating at 6,500 - 6,700 VND/kg depending on the region, lower than the same period last year, but rice farmers still make a profit, although not as much as the same period.
"At this price, it will be difficult for anyone who rents land to grow rice to make a profit. I remember last year, after Tet, the price of rice was over 8,000 VND/kg, but now it is only over 6,500 VND/kg. In my opinion, from now until the peak harvest of the 2024-2025 winter-spring crop, the price of rice may differ by 500 VND/kg, it is difficult to decrease sharply," he commented.
A leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Giang province said that in the 2024-2025 winter-spring rice crop, farmers have so far harvested over 1,514 hectares, reaching 0.6% of the area (227,800 hectares), with an average yield of 6.16 tons/ha.
It is noted that rice prices have increased by 200 - 400 VND/kg compared to before Tet. The agricultural sector continues to monitor and update the rice harvest situation in localities.
"Compared to the same period of the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop, the price of this rice is about 1,000 - 1,200 VND/kg lower, but farmers still make a profit. Low-quality rice varieties such as IR50404 and OM380 have lower profits of about 1,500 - 2,000 VND/kg. High-quality rice varieties such as OM 18 and Dai Thom 8 have higher profits," he said.
Mr. Pham Thai Binh - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Can Tho City) - said that rice prices have increased slightly compared to before Tet. The reason for the increase in rice prices after Tet is partly due to the fact that businesses have opened and purchased rice according to custom and signed contracts with low quantities.
"Although the demand for rice imports from other countries is still very large, Vietnam's traditional rice importers have already imported a lot of rice in 2024, so there is no need to import urgently. Other countries also grasp the information that Vietnam is entering the winter-spring rice harvest, so they are also waiting for rice prices to decrease before purchasing, so rice prices are unlikely to increase sharply," said Mr. Binh.
Many countries want to buy rice but wait for the price to decrease
According to Mr. Pham Thai Binh, at the beginning of the new year, rice exporting enterprises in the Mekong Delta have opened, so they have signed rice export contracts with traditional countries, but not many, only buying and selling in moderation. It is likely that from now until the peak harvest, rice prices will hardly increase.
"Despite the huge demand, rice importing countries are waiting for rice prices to drop before buying. To break this, Vietnam must develop the rice industry sustainably. That means production must be linked to consumption," said Mr. Binh.
"Sometimes, just a few months like this, if we are not proactive in consumption and production, we will have to sell off. Not to mention that some businesses do not have enough capital and have to sign contracts to sell off, running for cash to pay off bank debts. There is no other way but to implement the 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice project that the Government has approved," Mr. Binh added.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chua-the-vui-du-gia-lua-tang-lai-20250205224617211.htm
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