Vietnamplus

Vietnam needs a long-term strategy to increase the quality of its rice exports to create sustainable growth in the future, experts say.

Vietnam needs to take new solutions and steps in rice production and export to ensure benefits of businesses and farmers given market-related difficulties forecast for the sector in the whole year, heard a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on June 24.

Thailand will host a national convention on rice in late May to promote rice exports and reinforce trade partnership with representatives from public and private sectors.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh has held a working session with head of China’s General Administration of Customs Ni Yuefeng to seek ways to boost bilateral trade ties in a more balanced and sustainable manner.

A project partly funded by a World Bank loan is being carried out in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang, aiming to help more than 26,000 farming households adopt sustainable agricultural production practices.

After the Government took steps to prevent rice prices from falling in February, prices have started to inch up in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta – the granary of Vietnam – though not by much.

The Government allocated some 7,800 tonnes of rice to more than 520,000 impoverished people across the nation ahead of the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet).

The Government’s recently-issued Decree No.107 has mostly received a warm welcome from rice exporters as its provisions enable them to improve their competitive edge and expand export markets.

Despite a reduction of more than 17,000 hectares in cultivating land, rice production in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap in 2018 rose 120,000 tonnes compared to the previous year to 3.32 million tonnes.

Vietnamese rice exports have never experienced a rise quite like that just seen in the first nine months of 2018.

Vietnam may export 6.5 million tonnes of rice in 2018, according to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan.

A workshop on new techniques under the Consortium for Unfavourable Rice Environments (CURE) was held in Can Tho city on January 30, highlighting the need to turn challenges into opportunities for Mekong Delta agriculture.

Thai jasmine rice has taken the mantle of the World’s Best Flavoured Rice for the fifth time and for the second year in a row.

Cambodia exported some 421,000 tonnes of rice in the first nine months of this year, up 16.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has suggested the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang develop smart agriculture and processing industry, and spread a new-style cooperative model.

Vietnam will reform rice production to gain sustainable development in the production and export of rice, according to Vietnam’s Rice Market Development Strategy from 2017 to 2020.

Encouraging signs for rice exports after a down-period have boosted the Vietnamese rice market.

Up to 100,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice will be shipped to the EU each year tax-free in 2018 following the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement, helping local rice exporters penetrate the market.

More than 8,500 disadvantaged students in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong will receive over 500 tonnes of rice in the second academic semester this year as decided by the provincial People’s Committee.

Changes to management institutions are needed to improve the rice value chain and Vietnamese rice’s competitiveness, experts said at a workshop in Hanoi on March 17.