The restructuring of rice farming in the Mekong Delta should focus on
improving farmers’ incomes and sustainable development, experts told a
recent seminar in Can Tho city.
Le Van Banh, head of the Cuu
Long Delta Rice Research Institute, said though the rice cultivation
area and output increase every year farmers remain poor.
The
main goal of restructuring the rice sector should be to improve farmers’
incomes so that they continue to farm, he said.
Deputy
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said besides
yields it is time to focus on improving the commercial value of the
rice varieties grown.
Exporting the grain at around 400 USD a
tonne, the country still needs varieties that can fetch 600 USD and even
1,000 USD, according to Doanh.
The delta is the country’s important rice producer, but the rate of certified rice seeds used is only 35 percent.
Since the rest are uncertified, the quality of exported rice and output are adversely affected.
The ministry has begun a research and agricultural expansion programme
focusing on creating high-quality rice varieties that would improve
export value and farmers’ incomes, he said.
Participants in
the seminar said the production and trade of rice faced many limitations
like low quality of exports, low competitiveness, and small scale of
cultivation and trade.
The delta’s provinces were not closely
linked and there was little application of modern technologies in rice
processing, they said.
Le Duc Thinh, deputy head of the
ministry’s Department of Cooperative Economy and Rural Development, said
the average land holding per household in the delta was 0.87ha.
Of the delta’s total rice area, low-quality varieties accounted for 45 percent and medium-quality ones for 35 percent.
Traders bought around 90 percent of the rice grown in the delta, he said, meaning farmers did not make much profit.
Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, deputy head of the ministry’s Institute of Policy
and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, said the proposed
restructure of the rice sector envisaged strengthening the links between
exporters and farmers and focus on rice cultivation areas specialising
in exports.
It also sought to usher in advanced farming
techniques and technologies to increase yields and values, attracting
foreign investment in agriculture, developing new export markets, and
increasing the output of high quality rice for exports, he said.
Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy head of the Southwest Region Steering
Committee, said the delta planned to stabilise paddy output at 24-25
million tonnes a year from now through 2010.
The region has
1.6-1.8 million hectares under the grain, but plans to grow higher value
crops like corn and soybean on 112,000ha of low-yield rice fields in
2014-15.
As of the end of last month 87,000ha had been
switched to corn, dragon fruit, and lime, according to the Plant
Cultivation Department.-VNA