The application of advanced technology in preservation and processing is the most important factor in Vietnam’s rice value chain. Photo danviet.vn) Can Tho (VNS/VNA) - The application of advanced technology in preservation andprocessing is the most important factor in Vietnam’s rice value chain, said NguyenHong Son, Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences under theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
This field had the potential for strong development in thedomestic rice production industry, especially enterprises in the domestic riceproduction chain, he said.
MARD had employed specific programmes and action plans toattract investment in this field, especially investment opportunities from freetrade agreements that Vietnam has signed with other countries.
"Foreign rice processing and preservation technologyenterprises are expected to pay more attention to the Vietnamese market andcooperate with domestic manufacturing enterprises to promote technology toincrease efficiency and quality in local rice production," Son said at theannual Vietnam Rice Value Chain Development Workshop 2019 held in Can Tho lastweek.
Nguyen Chanh Trung, the Tan Long Group’s Managing Director inrice and rice factory, said in its rice production chain, it cooperated withfarmers in production and then purchased rice from farmers. After that, it usedmodern technology and machines for drying and storage of rice, meeting therequirements to have high quality products for high-demanding markets such as theRepublic of Korea, as well as the domestic market.
The company also guided the farmers to gradually switch fromthe old farming model to organic rice production, Trung said.
Rice is a key export product of Vietnam, with export volumeranging from 4.9 to 7.7 million tonnes per year. The export value of rice hasalways reached over 2 billion USD per year and it even reached a record of over3 billion USD last year, according to MARD.
Now, Vietnam is the third largest rice exporter in the world,accounting for about 15 percent of the total rice export volume. Vietnameseproducts have been exported to about 150 countries and territories.
Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Industryand Trade’s Import and Export Department, said in the first eight months ofthis year, Vietnam's rice export volume reached 5.4 million tonnes, up 0.1 percentbut the rice export value dropped by 15 percent year on year to 1.96 billionUSD.
Vietnam’s rice exports to China decreased by 63 percent involume and 67 percent in value. In addition, the rice exports to othercountries also saw strong reduction, such as Indonesia (down 96 percent),Bangladesh (down 75 percent) and Algeria (down 55 percent).
However, the Philippines market has emerged as a bright spotin Vietnam's rice export activities to help the national total rice exportsrise in the first eight months.
In the January-August period, Vietnam exported nearly 1.5million tonnes of rice to the Philippines, an increase of more than 200 percentyear on year, accounting for 37 percent of Vietnam's rice exports.
This year, the export value of fragrant rice, specialty rice,and organic rice has increased in number, increasing the value of export rice.
However, the application of advanced technology in riceproduction, processing and preservation is still very limited for the domesticrice production chain. This has created a significant impact on the quality andprice of Vietnamese export rice compared to similar products of major riceexporting countries such as Thailand and India, according to MARD.
"In recent years, many businesses have invested inhigh-quality products from design and appearance to good quality of rice aswell as maintain high quality of rice during storage and trading. However, thenumber of producers doing that is not many compared to the large rice exportvolume," Son said.
Therefore, the application of advanced technology inpreservation and processing is very important in Viet Nam's rice value chain toincrease to meet the strict requirements of major rice export markets, he said.
Do Ha Nam, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Food Association, Chairmanof Board of Directors and General Director of Intimex Group said to havesustainable development in Vietnam's rice production industry, it was necessaryto choose high-value products like Jasmine rice.
On the other hand, localrice producers needed to renew technical production and equipment to not losethe market. They also must manage food safety and hygiene, chemical productsand post-harvest preservation to overcome the increasing technical barriers ofdeveloped countries, he said.
At the seminar, many businesses introduced global advancedtechnologies in rice production and processing as well as practical experiencein applying technology to rice production and processing stages./.
