More than 800,000 farmers in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces have benefited from the Vietnam Sustainable Agriculture Transformation (VnSAT) project, which has helped increase their annual income and production.
Việt Nam’s rice exports surged this year to 1.29 million tonnes worth US$602 million by mid-March, 26.5 per cent and 34.6 per cent up.
The application of advanced technology in preservation and processing is the most important factor in Việt Nam’s rice value chain, said Nguyễn Hồng Sơn, Director of the Việt Nam Academy of Agricultural Sciences under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Rice production and exports has shifted towards quality and added value, promoting safe production and applying high technology while organic agriculture has been given special attention for development.
Seventy-four farmers in Mỹ Lộc Commune in Vĩnh Long Province grow organic rice as part of a pilot project that aims to bring consumers safer quality products and enable sustainable agricultural production.
The abnormal surge in domestic rice prices in this year’s winter-spring crop has caused some rice exporters, who had signed export contracts before the harvest season, to suffer losses during the first quarter.
The Sông Hậu Food Company, a rice exporter, has reduced its energy consumption by 983,764 kWh in the past four years, saving US$62,615.
Lộc Trời Group, a leading provider of agricultural services and products in Việt Nam, in coordination with IFC and the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP), launched the Sustainable Rice Production Programme in Việt Nam during a kick-off ceremony held in HCM City on Wednesday.
After the Tết (the Lunar New Year) break, employees of Intimex Group Joint Stock Company are scrambling to fulfil export orders.