Ministry targets high value from rice farming in 2020

HANOI – The agriculture ministry aims high for rice farming, targeting to raise the export price of the staple food to around US$600-800 a ton in 2020 compared to the current price of US$452, said an official at a conference in Hanoi on September 24.

Pham Dong Quang, deputy head of the Cultivation Department under the ministry, told the conference on agriculture restructuring that measures would be taken to boost the export price to US$600 a ton of white rice and US$800 a ton of fragrant rice.

In addition, productivity will also be increased so as to ensure an average income of VND120 million per hectare for farmers.

Rice takes the center stage in the ministry’s agriculture restructuring scheme toward 2020. Therefore, the ministry has set up two steering committees, one in charge of promoting sci-tech applications for the rice sector and the other tasked with drafting the restructuring scheme.

To increase the rice value, the ministry has suggested measures such as using rice varieties with high quality and productivity, and those strains resistant to diseases and bad weather.

In specific, the Mekong Delta should cultivate types of rice for the global market such as white, long-grain and fragrant rice. Meanwhile, the Red River Delta and other localities should grow rice varieties with high quality for sale on the domestic market.

The Cultivation Department also maps out plans to effectively utilize 3.8 million hectares of paddy farming. By 2020, around 700,000-800,000 hectares of paddy fields will be used for growing other crops or changed for livestock or fishery farming.

Quang of the Cultivation Department said that Vietnam will maintain traditional export markets while penetrating new markets in East Asia and North Africa.

Apart from those measures, innovative farming methods such as VietGAP and SRI are also mentioned in the restructuring scheme.

The ministry said it will encourage domestic and international enterprises from Japan and Korea to invest in paddy fields to turn out rice for consumption in Vietnam or abroad.

Thuy Dung

(Source: The SaiGon Times)