To take advantage of this opportunity, the Department of Crop Production has directed the planting of an additional 50,000 hectares of autumn-winter rice. Binh Thuan does not have an autumn-winter crop and according to the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan, it is impossible to increase the rice acreage, because the province no longer has suitable land for rice cultivation, except for areas previously planted with rice and then converted to grow dragon fruit, which is ineffective.
1. At this time, in many places in the province, the summer-autumn rice is being harvested and farmers are happy because the rice price is very high. Depending on each type of rice, the price is different, but with high-quality rice, signed contracts with businesses, traders buy for export, the price is the highest. For example, in the fields in Bac Binh, while ML 48 rice has a price ranging from 7,100 - 7,300 VND/kg fresh and 8,200 - 8,300 VND/kg dry, Dai Thom 8 is bought at 7,800 VND/kg fresh, and dry rice is around 8,500 - 8,600 VND/kg. In the fields of Duc Linh district, OM 5451 rice variety with good rice grains meeting export requirements is also sold at a price 200 VND/kg higher than round-grain rice varieties, or 6,700 VND/kg in the field. In Tanh Linh, where the flood has just passed, affecting 30% of the rice yield, the price of rice has also fluctuated. The price of OM rice of all types is about 300 VND/kg higher than other rice varieties, currently at 7,000 VND/kg of fresh rice, an increase of 500 VND/kg compared to the same period last year.
If the price of paddy increased to the highest level in many years, the price of rice also increased sharply, although there were no signs of shortage in the market, because in early August 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Trade sent an urgent document to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities to coordinate the implementation of rice market stabilization. However, the price of all kinds of rice in the Phan Thiet City market has increased by about 15-20% compared to half a month ago. There are many reasons, but the decisive factor, as the seller said, is that Vietnam's rice exports are currently increasing every day.
It was not until this time, when the story of Vietnam's rice exports was at its most favorable, that every household, because everyone more or less ate rice every day, knew the reason was that the world's food supply was in short supply, and the area for growing food crops in many countries was lost. In addition, many countries were increasing their rice purchases not only for eating but also for storage due to fear that El Nino would cause a shortage of rice supply. Meanwhile, India and many other countries simultaneously banned rice exports, creating an opportunity for Vietnamese rice. To take advantage of this opportunity, the Department of Crop Production directed the planting of an additional 50,000 hectares of autumn-winter rice. Binh Thuan does not have an autumn-winter crop and according to the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan, it is impossible to increase the rice area, because the province no longer has suitable land for growing rice, except for areas that were previously grown rice and then converted to grow dragon fruit, which is ineffective.
2. In fact, high rice prices have brought positive effects in building and expanding advanced production in key rice districts of the province. It is clear that they have had an impact on consolidating and expanding rice production links between enterprises, cooperatives and farmers. These links have long been struggling to meet expectations, due to obstacles in new and old production methods, old and new perceptions in applying technical advances, but it seems that the deciding factor is that the prices of all types of rice for good quality rice are not much different. And now, exported rice has proven that difference through price. Not only that, it is also a driving force to help people boldly change to quality rice varieties, at the same time approaching scientific production techniques, helping the soil not to be eroded of nutrients, and the products are better received by the market.
Moreover, in some areas in districts such as Ham Thuan Bac and Bac Binh, where many years ago, people also gave up growing rice, secretly grew dragon fruit, despite the government's objections, and have now returned to growing rice. The conversion from rice to dragon fruit in some of these areas once brought many hopes of changing income, but with low-lying fields and many other unsuitability factors, dragon fruit trees only grew well in the first few years when the trees were still healthy. However, in favorable times, the fruit products were not as outstanding as in high-lying sandy areas with plenty of water, so growers could not sell at a price to accumulate. In difficult times, the gardens not only had more pests and diseases, the trees were weaker, and many consecutive low price periods caused people to have no capital or strength to nurture the trees. The peak occurred from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, when many dragon fruit areas in Ham Thuan Bac and Bac Binh were abandoned.
Before the price of rice increased, people with dragon fruit gardens like this pulled up the poles to plant rice, because the cost was low and they didn't know what else to plant. But now, with the price of rice rising, people have pulled up more dragon fruit poles, preparing to plant the summer crop. That cycle of about ten years, in the end, is to cultivate crops based on prices, exposing the hardships of farming but also clearly showing the harm of growing plants on unsuitable land. It is worth noting that according to the law of the market, no product has a high price forever and no product has a low price forever. For example, rice products at present. As for dragon fruit, on August 10, the price was 12,000 VND/kg for bulk purchase at the garden, and type 1 was 15,000 VND/kg at the warehouse. With this price, dragon fruit growers make a profit, but before that, the price was always low, not enough to cover the cost. But with the obvious acceptance of price fluctuations, seasonal gains and losses are normal, the main thing that can be drawn from reality is to choose plants that are suitable for the land, farmers must master good cultivation techniques for quality products, according to market standards, then one day they will receive high prices.
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