These days, farmers in many places in the province are harvesting the early winter-spring rice crop. This is a production crop expected to be successful in both productivity and selling price. Despite the bumper crop, rice prices have dropped sharply recently, making farmers worried.
Rice prices hit rock bottom
While busily transporting rice to shore, waiting for traders to come and buy, Mr. Nguyen Huu Loc, residing in Ward 4, Ben Cau town, said that this crop his family is cultivating about 3 hectares of rice varieties OM 5451 and OM 18. The area being harvested is nearly 1 hectare (varieties OM 5451), with an estimated yield of about 7 tons/ha. The selling price is about 5,200 VND/kg, compared to the previous Winter-Spring crop, this year's rice price has decreased by more than 2,000 VND/kg.
According to Mr. Loc, after paying for all the fertilizers, pesticides, rice seeds and land preparation costs... with the current rice price, his family's profit is only about 10 million VND, a decrease of about 7 million VND compared to the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring crop.
Mr. Phung Minh Tan, a farmer living in Go Ngai hamlet, Phuoc Binh commune, said that his family had just harvested 0.7 hectares of Dai Thom 8 rice variety at a price of about 6,200 VND/kg, a decrease of more than 1,000 VND/kg compared to the price that traders had previously deposited.
According to Mr. Tan, although fertilizer prices have decreased compared to the end of 2022, they are still higher than before the price fever by about 150,000 VND to more than 200,000 VND per bag; at the same time, many costs have also increased compared to before, pushing up farmers' investment costs. With the current rice price, almost all the profits achieved are "taking labor for profit".
According to some traders, the price of commercial rice began to decrease from the end of the Summer-Autumn crop in 2024, but the decrease was not much, as of the end of December 2024, the price of rice only decreased by about 1,000 VND/kg. However, since the Lunar New Year of At Ty 2025 until now, the price of rice has decreased by about 2,000 VND/kg.
Currently, the purchase price of some popular varieties such as: OM 5451 is from 5,100 - 5,400 VND/kg, OM 18 and Dai Thom 8 are from 6,200 - 6,500 VND/kg, IR 50404 is from 5,000 - 5,300 VND/kg, ST25 is about 8,000 VND/kg... this price is lower than the same period last year from 2,000 - 2,500 VND/kg.
Farmers are worried
Currently, the winter-spring rice crop in the province has just begun to be harvested, there are still many low-lying rice areas along the Vam Co Dong River from Chau Thanh, Ben Cau, Go Dau districts and Trang Bang town in the flowering stage to almost ripe. The harvest time may last until the end of March and into early April 2025.
However, the current drop in rice prices right from the beginning of the season has made many farmers with unharvested rice very worried, especially those who rent land for cultivation, because with the current rice price, these households have almost no profit after 3 months of "selling their faces to the land and their backs to the sky".
Mr. Huynh Van Ut Em, residing in Long Vinh commune, Chau Thanh district, said that this winter-spring crop, his family cultivated about 4 hectares of rice, of which more than 2 hectares were rented from relatives. Currently, his rice is in the stage of hardening the grain, with more than 3 weeks left to harvest.
According to Mr. Ut Em, every year, the price of rice will be high at the beginning of the crop, then gradually decrease when the rice is harvested. However, this year, the price has been low since the beginning of the crop, making him very worried, because in just 10 days, when farmers harvest rice, the selling price will certainly decrease again.
Mr. NVS, a farmer in Cam An hamlet, Go Dau district, said that his family rented 1.5 hectares of land along the Vam Co Dong river to produce rice twice a year, with a rental price of nearly 20 million VND/year. With the current rice price, if the crop is good, he will break even, but if the rice price continues to decrease, he will surely suffer a loss on the land rental fee for production.
“For the past two years, rice prices have increased, so the landowner has also demanded an increase in the rental price. I have no choice but to accept it because if I don’t rent, where will I get land for production? When I first planted the rice, I heard that rice prices had decreased, but I didn’t think it would decrease like this,” Mr. S added.
Rice prices decrease, consumers benefit
The sharp drop in paddy prices has also led to a sharp drop in rice prices in the market. According to some rice shops in the province, rice prices have decreased by about 25% compared to September 2024, with an average decrease of about 4,000 VND to 6,000 VND/kg compared to last year.
According to records, at some rice dealers in Tay Ninh city and Hoa Thanh town, the selling prices of some types of rice are as follows: OM 380 rice fluctuates at 7,500 - 7,700 VND/kg; OM 18 rice from 9,200 - 9,400 VND/kg; IR 504 rice from 8,000 - 8,100 VND/kg; 5451 rice from 8,200 - 8,400 VND/kg.
According to a rice dealer in Ward 2, Tay Ninh City, the price of rice purchased from farmers at the field has dropped sharply. Meanwhile, the supply of rice is very abundant, the export market has not improved. According to announcements at the mills, the price of rice is now very cheap, almost hitting rock bottom, and is unlikely to decrease further.
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Source: https://baotayninh.vn/gia-lua-giam-sau-nong-dan-lo-lang-a186857.html
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