With over one acre of rice paddies, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lam's family (Nghi Lam commune, Nghi Loc district) has finished harvesting their summer-autumn rice crop. She sold nearly 3 tons of rice harvested this season to traders. Ms. Lam said: “I planted the Khang Dan 18 rice variety on my entire summer-autumn rice crop to sell to traders because I still have leftover rice from the spring crop. This year, the price of rice has increased significantly, so I'm very happy. Never before has the price of summer-autumn rice been this high. Khang Dan rice sold fresh at the field is 6,300 VND/kg (an increase of nearly 1,500 VND/kg compared to previous years) and is higher than the price of spring rice.”
This summer-autumn season, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha's family (Dai Dong commune, Thanh Chuong district) only cultivated rice on 2/3 of the area compared to the spring season. Despite a severe drought at the beginning of the season, thanks to good care, the rice yield was still high, approximately 2.8 quintals per sao (1 sao = 360 square meters). “Seven sao of rice yielded nearly 2 tons. All of it was sold to traders at 6,400 VND/kg. This is the highest price ever. This summer-autumn season, input costs decreased, while rice prices increased, so after deducting expenses, we still made a profit of nearly 6 million VND. In addition, the straw from seven sao also sold for over 1 million VND.”
Mr. Ha said that summer-autumn rice is usually a short-day variety that is flood-resistant, harvested when only 80% ripe, so the quality is not as high as spring rice, and therefore the price is usually lower than spring rice. This year, the prolonged sunshine has resulted in more even ripening of the rice, and the yield is quite consistent. In particular, rice prices are on the rise, so traders are buying fresh paddy at high prices.
In Nam Dan district, farmers are currently rushing to harvest their summer-autumn rice crop. With favorable prices, they are selling fresh rice directly in the fields, with prices ranging from 6,000 to 6,500 VND/kg. “Not only are rice prices rising, but it’s also easy to sell, and more traders are coming to the fields to buy. Families involved in making rice noodles, rice cakes, and brewing rice wine are placing orders right after the harvest. The price of dried, cleaned rice has reached 7,800-8,300 VND/kg. Taking advantage of the sunny weather, I bring it back to dry, clean, and sell it to those who placed orders in advance,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Hanh, a farmer from Nam Xuan commune.
These days, in the rice fields of Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Yen Thanh, etc., farmers are urgently harvesting their rice, and traders from within and outside the province are driving trucks right to the fields to buy the rice. Many traders even go through the villages to widely inform rice-growing households about the purchase price of each rice variety; creating price competition and preventing farmers from being forced to accept low prices.
According to rice traders, the prices of all types of rice from the 2023 summer-autumn crop have increased significantly compared to last year and reached their highest levels in the past three years. Nguyen Van Duy, a rice trader in Dien Ky commune (Dien Chau district), said: “Through local contacts, when farmers are harvesting, we send trucks directly to the fields to buy their rice. While prices are higher, it's also more difficult to buy as many traders from within and outside the province are coming to buy.”
As a company specializing in purchasing and processing rice, Vinh Hoa Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (Vinh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) plans to purchase approximately 5,000 tons of rice from farmers this summer-autumn season at prices ranging from 5,800 to 8,000 VND/kg (depending on the rice variety). This is considered the highest price in the past three years.
The increase in rice prices is due to the booming rice market nationwide, with high demand from companies, businesses, and traders. In addition, the impact of the global food market, with many countries increasing their rice reserves and rice exports rising, has pushed up rice prices in the Mekong Delta provinces, leading to a corresponding increase in rice prices in Nghe An.
“In previous years, rice prices in Nghe An were usually slightly higher than those in the southern provinces. But this year, rice prices in the Mekong Delta provinces have increased sharply, and are currently higher than in Nghe An. Therefore, traders from the northern provinces are flocking to the central provinces to buy large quantities of rice,” said Ms. Phan Thi Hao, Deputy Executive Director of Vinh Hoa Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
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