What to do to keep Vietnamese rice always dominant?

Many comments about 2024 show that the rice market will continue to be vibrant as countries increase imports to ensure food security.

In 2024, Vietnamese rice will still prevail

In 2023, Vietnamese rice prices witnessed consecutive increases, reaching the highest peak in the world at the end of the year. According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), starting from June, the export price of Vietnamese "pearl" has continuously increased. In the last month of 2023, Vietnamese rice prices were always at 663 USD/ton, a very high price in recent years.

Vietnamese rice is recognized as the best rice in the world.

Forecasting the rice export situation in 2024, analysts said that rice prices will remain high and cannot fall below 640 - 650 USD/ton. The reason for this problem is that the amount of rice in the world is gradually becoming scarce, while Vietnam holds the opportunity to export rice.

Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan said that the current context shows that the world's food supply will become increasingly scarce, India has not yet exported rice again, Thailand has also reduced the amount of rice exported abroad. Meanwhile, China is always short of rice, similar to some other countries such as: Philippines, Indonesia, Türkiye, Chile ... are all competing to buy Vietnamese rice. In addition, countries in the Asian region are affected by El Nino and climate change, almost every country has reduced rice production.

Professor Vo Tong Xuan said that the areas bordering Cambodia, including the North of Kien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An... can grow about 1.5 million hectares of rice. These are areas that never lack fresh water, and salt water cannot encroach, so they can be considered the food security areas of the country.

In other areas towards the sea, we do not grow rice in the dry season, which is both wasteful of fresh water - which is already scarce in the dry season - and not very effective. But in the rainy season, we concentrate on growing rice very well, and when the rain stops, we let in salt water to raise shrimp and fish, saving fresh water for food security areas.

In the central region, farmers still grow three rice crops. “In other countries, their rice varieties are long-term, taking four months to harvest, so they can only grow two rice crops. In Vietnam, thanks to crop structure planning techniques, single-, double-, and triple-crop growing areas, there are many short-term rice varieties, only about 90-100 days to harvest, so we can grow three crops with high productivity.

Rice export prices have reached a record high and are expected to remain high in the coming time. (Illustration photo).

In recent years, we have added delicious rice genes to rice plants, the quality has improved, so we can be completely assured of the competitiveness of the product. With the above advantages, I think this is a rare opportunity to raise the level of Vietnamese rice globally, we should not and cannot miss it" - Professor Vo Tong Xuan said.

What to do to seize the golden opportunity?

It is believed that 2024 will be a key year for rice export and raising the level of Vietnamese rice. However, Mr. Huynh Van Thon - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Loc Troi Group said that the market is currently very favorable for selling, but not favorable for businesses purchasing domestic rice.

According to him, in Vietnam, there is still an unsustainable business relationship between producers and purchasing enterprises. When rice prices go up, many people are willing to "break the deal" and not sell to enterprises as committed, but sell to other traders at a higher price.

This not only causes purchasing and processing enterprises to lose money because they have paid in advance, but also causes difficulties in export supply. More than ever, this situation needs to be resolved urgently for sustainable development.

Mr. Nguyen Van Don - General Director of Viet Hung Company Limited also commented that 2024 is a year with great potential for rice export. In the country, the winter-spring harvest will begin at the beginning of the year, with a very large output, bringing abundant supply to businesses.

This is a great advantage for Vietnam to export rice. However, if there is a lack of connection or a loose connection between enterprises - people - cooperatives as at present, it will push exporting enterprises into a state of lack of initiative and the input will also be difficult to be sustainable.

“Currently, some rice exporting enterprises are still hesitant to sign export orders with partners at the beginning of the year because they are not proactive in their supply sources. This limitation needs to be overcome immediately, otherwise it will hinder the boom in rice exports. Our experience is that enterprises must purchase goods from many different sources such as: buying directly from producers, linking with businesses and cooperatives to avoid being passive when signing sales contracts first and then purchasing goods later,” said Mr. Don.

Mr. Pham Thai Binh - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Trung An Rice) predicted that with the situation of extreme climate change and some political events and conflicts in the world, the rice shortage will continue to occur in 2024. However, some rice exporting countries are actively looking for solutions to overcome the rice shortage in the coming years.

Therefore, in 2024, if we want Vietnamese rice to continue to be the best in the world, we must take advantage of opportunities, quickly limit shortcomings to seize the "golden" opportunity, and set rare records in history like in 2023.

PHAM DUY

Source