HCM CITY — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Hậu Giang plans to expand the cultivation area planted with certified rice to 60-70 per cent of its total rice cultivation.

About 40 per cent of the province’s 80,000ha of rice are planted with certified rice seeds, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Nguyễn Văn Đồng, director of the department, said the province’s agricultural sector was co-operating with research institutes and universities to produce new high-quality rice varieties. 

Last month, the province’s Agricultural Seed Centre signed a co-operation agreement with the Cửu Long Rice Research Institute to produce new rice varieties which will have a Hậu Giang brand name. The institute will also provide techniques to the centre in how to create new rice varieties.

In addition, as of May, more than 5,000ha of rice in Hậu Giang had been guaranteed outlets through linkages between farmers and enterprises in planting rice, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In Vị Thuỷ District, for instance, more than 100ha of the 2015-16 winter-spring rice in Vị Thắng Commune’s Hamlet 9 and Hamlet 11  have been guaranteed outlets by the Công Bình Private Enterprise.

Nguyễn Văn Tạo, who owns 3ha of rice fields in Hamlet 11, said his family began participating in the cooperation model for the 2015-16 winter-spring rice and earned a profit of VNĐ110 million (US$5,000) for this crop.

The profit is VNĐ40 million ($1,800) higher than in previous rice crops, he said.

In the next winter-spring rice crop 2016-17, Vị Thuỷ District targets a yield of 124,400-127,700 tonnes, up about 7 per cent against the last winter-spring rice crop.

Trần Hồng Tim, head of the Vị Thuỷ Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau, said the bureau would encourage farmers to use more certified rice seeds to increase yield and quality.

The bureau will also encourage farmers to apply advanced farming techniques.

In the 2015-16 winter-spring crop, Hậu Giang achieved the lowest production costs in growing rice compared to the delta’s other provinces and Cần Thơ, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Hậu Giang spent about VNĐ2,802 planting one kilo of paddy.  

Advanced farming techniques, high-quality seeds and rice production models that use less material inputs have helped the province reduce production costs, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development  

About 80 per cent of rice in Hậu Giang is now harvested by combine machines. –VNS