"With the current situation, it must be affirmed that businesses have many advantages in negotiating and signing contracts at the most favorable prices. There is information that partners come to sign contracts, and prices have increased by 30- 40 USD/ton. Farmers also have the opportunity to increase their income thanks to higher rice prices. At the same time, Vietnam has the opportunity to expand its rice market share in both traditional and new markets."
(Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung)
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung shared with Lao Dong about the potential and opportunities for rice export when India temporarily stopped exporting this item.
Dear Deputy Minister, with the ban on rice export from some countries such as India, Russia, and UAE, the supply will be temporarily interrupted, skewing the "supply" in the short term. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese rice. However, many people think that, with the recent shrinking of the rice growing area, Vietnam will not take advantage of this opportunity because it is difficult to meet the large amount of rice for export. What is your opinion on this matter?
- Recently, there have been many fluctuations related to the adjustment of policies of some rice exporting countries, such as Russia withdrawing from the grain export agreement, UAE, and India banning rice exports. Such adjustments will have an impact on the world rice market.
Fortunately, up to this point, the total rice cultivation area of the country reached 7.1 million hectares, yielding 43-43.5 million tons, achieving the planned output. With this output, it is possible to balance domestic consumption and export.
Specifically, domestic consumption is about 30 million tons, of which 15 million tons are for 100 million people, 9.5 million tons are for processing, 1 million tons are for breeding, and 2.5 million tons are for national reserve. After such a balance, rest assured that there are still 14-15 million tons of rice, ie 7–7.5 million tons of rice for export.
Sir, the policy of stopping rice exports may soon be abolished and India - the world's largest rice exporter - can continue to export plain rice to regain market share. Therefore, taking advantage of this opportunity to increase exports is what Vietnamese businesses are trying to do. What guidelines has the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have to support businesses?
- Good and stable output is a prerequisite for exporting, helping businesses benefit on the negotiating table. To support businesses, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised the Prime Minister to issue a Directive on strengthening rice exports in the new situation; at the same time, closely follow the actual situation, on the basis of grasping information on rain, drought, and salinity, etc., thereby adjusting the cropping frame and the most reasonable structure of varieties; direct specialized agencies to strengthen supervision and prevent disease outbreaks to ensure rice yield and quality.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also assigned the Departments of Cultivation, Irrigation, and Plant Protection to review the situation of drought and salinity, taking into account the possibility of increasing the area of the autumn-winter crop. We estimate that if an additional 50,000ha of autumn-winter rice is increased, Vietnam can collect another 100 million USD, providing food for the world and bringing income to farmers.
For the winter-spring crop, right after the autumn-winter crop ended, the Ministry gave clear instructions on techniques such as keeping abreast of drought and salinity developments, sowing time frame from October to here, harvesting as soon as possible, and finishing The time frame is December 31, 2023.
The ministry also requested specialized units to handle technical barriers in the spirit of creating maximum conditions for export enterprises as soon as possible to expand to new markets and diversify markets.
In addition, there are concentrated solutions, closely following the actual situation to develop the most reasonable plan, ensuring 3.5 million hectares of rice land, while meeting food security for production. consumption as well as for export. The ministry is also directing units to focus on perfecting 1 million hectares of high-quality rice associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If done well, it can be replicated, because this is an inevitable trend to help rice production with good prices and more efficiency, and at the same time, proves to the world that Vietnam has well implemented its commitments at COP26.
The ministry is also flexible in directing production, currently the total rice production area reaches 100% as planned and will continue to be maintained for the next years. If the price is good, the market can expand the area.
- Thank you, Minister!
(Lao Dong)