Early rice yield and price decrease, farmers are unhappy

While harvesting the remaining 1.6 sao of wet rice in the fields of Dak Doa town, Mr. Yich (Piơm village, Dak Doa town) informed: This crop, he invested nearly 3 million VND in plowing, seeds, and fertilizer for 3.6 sao of wet rice. He recently finished harvesting 2 sao but only harvested 15 bags, 7 bags lower than last year. "The reason for the decrease in rice yield is that this area mainly relies on rainwater. Moreover, this year there were prolonged cold spells after Tet. When the rice plants were flowering, they encountered prolonged heat but the fields did not have enough water. Currently, the family has 1.6 sao of sown rice after having enough water and is preparing to harvest, hoping to get the same harvest as last year," said Mr. Yich.

Mr. Yich is preparing to harvest 1.6 sao of winter-spring rice 2024-2025. Photo: Nguyen Diep

According to Mr. Nguyen Kim Anh - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Doa district: Most of the rice fields in the southern communes of the district do not have irrigation works. Therefore, in the Winter-Spring crop, people often sow early rice with an area of ​​about 100 hectares. This year, the erratic weather has affected the growth and development of rice plants. Currently, the early rice crop of the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop is being harvested, so the average yield has not been assessed. However, given the recent weather developments, the possibility of a decrease in early rice yield is inevitable.

Meanwhile, in Chu Prong district, farmers in Ia Lau and Ia Pior communes have finished harvesting the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring rice crop. Most of the yields are not high and the price of rice has also decreased. Mr. Nguyen Van Anh (Pho Hien village, Ia Lau commune) said: Like every year, in the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop, he produced 5 hectares of rice with Dai Thom 8 variety, but from sowing to harvesting, the weather was very unpredictable, with prolonged cold, strong winds, and especially at the end of the crop, brown planthoppers appeared causing damage, so the rice yield decreased by 700-800 kg/ha compared to last year. In the same area, last year he harvested nearly 40 tons of dry rice, but this year there are only 33 tons. Not only did the yield decrease, but the price of Dai Thom 8 rice was only 8,200-8,500 VND/kg, 1,000-2,000 VND/kg lower than last year. “This year, seeds and fertilizers have increased compared to last year. The investment cost for 1 hectare of rice is more than 12 million VND/ha, not including the cost of care and harvesting. With the current price and yield situation, I only make a profit of about 17 million VND/ha per hectare, a decrease of nearly 10 million VND/ha compared to last year,” Mr. Anh said.

Farmers in Ia Lau commune (Chu Prong district) dry rice. Photo: Nguyen Diep

Similarly, Mr. Nhu Van Ky - Director of Hop Tien Agricultural and Service Cooperative (Ia Lau commune) - said: "In previous years, the average yield was 6.5-7 tons/ha, but this year the average is only 6 tons/ha, not to mention the increase in investment and labor costs. With 10 hectares of rice of my family, I estimate the profit will only reach about 15 million VND/ha, a decrease of 5 million VND compared to the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring crop. The same is true for the rice areas of other members of the cooperative".

Mr. Le Thanh Cong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ia Lau Commune (Chu Prong District) - shared: Up to this point, people in the commune have finished harvesting 550 hectares of rice in the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop. Although people in the commune have proactively sown early to avoid the drought at the end of the crop, most of the average rice yield has decreased by 30-35% compared to last year. The reason is due to the influence of increased cold air and late-season pests and diseases. In addition, the price of rice is now only 7,500-8,500 VND/kg (depending on the rice variety), so people make a profit but not much.

Mechanization in rice harvesting in An Phu commune field (Pleiku city). Photo: Nguyen Diep

In the rice granary of Phu Thien district, farmers have begun to harvest early rice sporadically, while the rest are preparing to harvest rice en masse. Mr. Mai Ngoc Quy, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Phu Thien district, said: In the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop, the whole district sowed nearly 7,000 hectares of rice. Up to this point, farmers have harvested about 300 hectares of early rice with an estimated average yield of 7.5 tons/ha, equivalent to last year, and the mass rice area will be harvested in about 15 days. However, due to the increase in production investment costs in this year's Winter-Spring crop and the impact of cold air waves when the rice plants were only about 1 month old, the plants have been slow to grow. In previous years, only 3 doses of fertilizer were applied, but this year, 4 doses had to be applied and the amount of growth stimulants increased. Currently, the price of fresh rice fluctuates at 8,000-8,500 VND/kg, while high-quality fragrant rice is around 9,000-9,500 VND/kg, so the profit of the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop will decrease by about 4 million VND/ha compared to the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring crop.

According to information from the provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, in the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop, the whole province sowed 26,882 hectares of rice, exceeding the plan by 5.4%. Currently, the whole province has harvested more than 2,519 hectares, reaching more than 9.37% of the area.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/nang-suat-va-gia-lua-tra-som-giam-nong-dan-kem-vui-post317881.html