The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) reported that this year’s rice production output in the Mekong Delta region is estimated at 8.6 million tonnes, including roughly 4.3 million tonnes in winter-spring crop.
The current most pressing issue is that beginning in early March rice prices have been dropping and now stand at VND4,400-5,000 per kilo for normal rice and VND4,500-5,300 per kilo for high-graded rice.
Participants discussed Thailand’s announced plans to reduce its stockpiles of rice inventories by 20 million tones and the potential adverse effects on rice prices and consumption.
To cope with the detrimental effects on the market, localities are implementing comprehensive urgent and long-term measures to prop-up support rice production and consumption.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is committed to providing VND8,000 billion preferential credits to purchase rice for reserves and is offering 2-3 year agriculture loans at a 7% rate per annum aiming to encourage the expansion of large-scale field models and application of high technologies in agricultural production.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is actively negotiating to close deals on contracts to export rice while the MARD is accelerating research efforts to improve the quality of rice and production.
