Rising costs, low rice prices: A major burden on farmers.

Currently, farmers in the province are focusing on preparing the land for planting the summer-autumn rice crop. However, rising input costs coupled with low rice prices are making things even more difficult for farmers.

LOTS OF PRESSURE

According to observations, many farmers in the province are currently focusing on planting the summer-autumn rice crop. When we arrived, Mr. Le Quoc Viet (Tan Hung Tay hamlet, Tan Phuoc 2 commune, Dong Thap province) was planting his summer-autumn rice crop.

Preparing the land for planting the 2026 summer-autumn rice crop.

This summer-autumn season, Mr. Viet sowed OM 18 rice variety on his 1.8 hectares of land. Mr. Viet shared: "Last winter-spring season, I also sowed OM 18 rice variety and sold it for 6,000 VND/kg."

However, I'm worried about the excessively high price of fertilizer. Meanwhile, the price of rice is very low, the cost of everything is increasing, and the yield of the summer-autumn crop is not high. Given the current difficult situation, I have returned more than 3 hectares of leased land. Because if the price of rice doesn't improve, I probably won't make a profit this season.”

Also in Tan Hung Tay hamlet, when we arrived, Mr. Do Thanh Hung was using a drone to sow OM 18 rice seeds on his family's 9 acres of land. Mr. Hung said: "Thanks to a good rice harvest this past winter-spring season, we made a profit of more than 2 million VND per acre."

However, this year's summer-autumn crop season has seen excessively high fertilizer prices, as have pesticide prices. Currently, urea fertilizer costs around 880,000 VND per 50 kg bag. Meanwhile, the upcoming rice crop is not expected to yield high productivity. Therefore, if rice prices don't increase, farming will be unprofitable, or even result in losses.”

Mr. Do Thanh Hung hired a drone to sow rice seeds.

Meanwhile, in Long Dinh commune, farmers are currently busy plowing the land to sow the summer-autumn rice crop.

However, anxiety is a common sentiment among many farmers due to the pressure of costs and rice prices. While watching a plowing machine cultivate his 6-acre rice field, Mr. Tran Van Nha (Long Dinh commune) couldn't hide his worries about the new planting season. Mr. Nha shared: "I just bought 4 bags of Ca Mau Urea fertilizer at nearly 900,000 VND/bag, an increase of about 300,000 VND/bag compared to the previous season."

Not to mention, the cost of renting plows has also increased due to rising fuel prices. All input costs are increasing while rice prices are falling, so farming is very discouraging now. We just hope that rice prices will increase, because this situation is very difficult for farmers.”

For this year's summer-autumn crop season, Mr. Cao Tho Truong, a member of the Binh Thanh Agricultural Service Cooperative (Lap Vo commune, Dong Thap province), plans to sow his seeds around the end of March. Mr. Truong shared: "I finished plowing the land about a week ago."

"Up until now, I've been preparing the next steps, such as seeds, agricultural supplies, and ensuring the quarantine period is observed before sowing according to the seasonal schedule."

Mr. Nguyen Van Doi, Director of Binh Thanh Agricultural Service Cooperative, said: “Currently, more than 80% of the land in the cooperative has been prepared. Farmers have fully prepared rice seeds and various types of fertilizers and pesticides, and are waiting for the planting season to proceed with sowing.”

"This season, the cooperative members are mainly planting OM 18 and Dai Thom 8 rice varieties. According to the plan, planting will begin around March 24th."

ARRANGING A SUITABLE SEASONAL SCHEDULE

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dong Thap province, for the 2026 summer-autumn crop season, the locality plans to plant 221,634 hectares of rice, with an estimated yield of over 1.42 million tons.

Specifically, 89% of the planted area used certified rice seeds; 72% of the planted area applied row sowing and sparse sowing methods; and 100% of the area was harvested by machine.

In addition, the province aims to achieve 100,000 hectares of specialized cultivation of high-quality, low-emission rice during this summer-autumn crop season.

Mr. Le Quoc Viet is planting his summer-autumn crop with many concerns.

Specifically, this includes reducing the amount of rice seeds sown to 80-100 kg/ha; collecting 70% of straw from the fields and reusing it; and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 5% compared to traditional rice cultivation. 100% of the area dedicated to high-quality, low-emission rice cultivation will have linkages between businesses and cooperatives, farmers' organizations, or other farmers' groups in production and product consumption… The planting schedule for the 2026 summer-autumn crop will be arranged to ensure compatibility with water supply capacity.

At the same time, it facilitates the planting of the 2026 autumn-winter crop, aiming to minimize the impact of extreme weather conditions.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has issued recommendations on planting schedules. For the border agricultural economic zones (Northern region), the Dong Thap Muoi ecological agricultural economic zone, the central agricultural economic zone along the Tien River, and the central agricultural economic zone along the Hau River (Southwestern region), the planting schedule will be as follows: Phase 1 from February 17 to 24; Phase 2 from March 18 to 25; Phase 3 from May 10 to 20 (for areas producing 3 crops).

For areas producing two crops per year, the planting schedule is as follows: Phase 1 from March 18th to 25th; Phase 2 from April 17th to 24th. Additionally, for coastal agricultural economic zones, the planting schedule is from May 10th to 25th (for areas producing both two and three crops per year).

In addition, for the 2026 summer-autumn crop season, the province also developed a key crop structure including: OM18, Dai Thom 8, OM5451, OM6976, OM4900, Jasmine 85…; supplementary varieties include: OM576, OM7347, Nang Hoa 9, VD20, OM6162, RVT, OM9582…

The agricultural sector advises farmers to prioritize short-duration, high-quality varieties that are moderately and fairly adaptable to acidic and saline soils, and suitable for each ecological region.

At the same time, use certified, disease-free, and pure seeds to ensure yield and quality; limit variety diversity in the same field to facilitate pest management and simultaneous harvesting.

To improve production efficiency, the agricultural sector recommends that farmers implement technical and production management solutions applying sustainable farming practices: "1 must, 5 reductions", "3 reductions, 3 increases", alternating wet and dry irrigation, SRP standards, VietGAP standards, etc.

At the same time, reduce the amount of seeds sown to 80 kg/ha, increase the proportion of certified seeds used; manage water according to the principle of alternating wet and dry periods; adjust flexibly depending on farming conditions, drought situation, saline intrusion, and rice variety characteristics; drain water at least twice per crop…

N. PHONG - A. THU

Source: https://baodongthap.vn/chi-phi-tang-gia-lua-thap-ap-luc-lon-doi-voi-nong-dan-a238540.html