Rice sector aims to lift quality

Nong Nghiep Viet Nam (Viet Nam Agriculture) newspaper talks to Dr Le Duc Thinh from the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development about raising the quality of rice.

As an agricultural policy researcher, what do you think about the development of the rice sector in particular and agriculture in general?

The high output and productivity we have seen is due to many factors such as advanced technology, better seedlings.

In 1986, agricultural output nationwide was 19 million tonnes. This year it will reach 40 million tonnes.

However, we blame farmers and scientists for focusing too much on output and not quality. I think that is not right. That said, the drive to boost productivity has been successful.

So what is the main task ahead?

Now, the main task is to focus on rice quality. For the last few years, we have begun to produce high quality rice. There didn’t use to be much demand for better quality rice because most customers were on low incomes. Now customers want better rice. Market forecasters should have anticipated this trend.

Has this affected farmers’ incomes?

Yes. We should have predicted that customers would go for quality rather than price. It is also important to follow the international markets.

For example, demand in Africa will be different from demand in Asia. Relevant organisations have not accurately followed market trends. Good quality rice from Thailand and Cambodia is being sold here.

Viet Nam exports a lot of cheap low-quality rice?

Exporting huge amounts of rice is not necessarily a good thing. It has led to pollution, land erosion and water shortages.

Producing 1kg of rice requires 16-20 litres of water.

Is the currently situation a problem?

Yes, it is. We are one of the biggest rice exporters in the world, yet we have to import one million tonnes of good-quality rice a year. This paradox is happening because we have not developed our rice industry according to market demands.

Rice exporters often make a profit even when farmers have lost their harvests. Why does this happen?

Farmers are not allowed to fix the price of the rice they produce.

Regardless of whether the price is high or low, farmers have to sell their rice rather than store it.

Enterprises meanwhile always know how much profit they will make when they buy their rice.

In the end, it is the farmers who lose out, not rice buyers and exporters.

How can this situation be resolved?

If we want to produce good quality and good value rice that will generate higher incomes for farmers we must have market controls.

We must conduct market research properly. For example, what is the domestic demand? Do consumers want high quality, average quality or low quality cheap rice? Based on that research, farmers and enterprises will be able to meet market demands.

We need to have a legal framework in place for conducting business. It can’t just be done orally as it is now. Market distributors will then have to work according to the law.

Those who don’t conform law must be strictly punished. Inspectors should also determine if rice is of low or high quality.

Viet Nam News

Tags: Vietnam agriculture, Vietnam rice, Vietnam rice quality