Rice prices continue to fall, farmers face more difficulties

This year’s summer-autumn crop, rice prices continue to fall, while input costs increase, causing difficulties for farmers. According to records, in recent days, many farmers in the Mekong Delta in general and Dong Thap province in particular have entered the summer-autumn rice harvest period. However, in contrast to the exciting atmosphere at the beginning of the crop season in previous years, this year, rice farmers are less happy.

FARMERS IN DIFFICULTY

In the eastern part of Dong Thap province, farmers are urgently harvesting summer-autumn rice. However, frequent rains have made rice harvesting difficult. The biggest difficulty is that rice prices are currently low, reducing farmers' profits.

Rice prices continue to fall, causing difficulties for farmers.

When we arrived, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoc's family (Binh Khanh hamlet, Phu Thanh commune, Dong Thap province) had just finished harvesting more than 2 hectares of Dai Thom 8 rice. The remaining 3 hectares of rice fields were also ready to be harvested, but had to be temporarily suspended due to the rain. Mr. Hoc complained: "This crop, the drivers brought the bags back but did not give a price yet. The rice price was too cheap so the drivers did not give a price in advance. I only know that farmers around here sell rice at 6,400 VND/kg. This year, the prices of fertilizer and pesticides have both increased, while the rice price is too cheap. This crop, farmers have almost no profit from farming."

Not far away, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhan's family has just finished harvesting 6 hectares of Dai Thom 8 rice. According to Mrs. Nhan, this crop's rice yield is not high but the selling price is low. "This crop's rice is too cheap, traders buy my rice for 6,400 VND/kg, that's the average price here. Due to high input costs, my family's profit this crop is less than 1 million VND/hectare" - Mrs. Nhan said.

In Long Binh commune, Dong Thap province, farmers are currently harvesting the summer-autumn rice crop to take advantage of planting the autumn-winter crop. Waiting for traders to weigh the rice, Mr. Nguyen Van Phu (Phu Trung hamlet, Long Binh commune) said that this crop, his family's 5 hectares of rice fields were sown with OM 4900 rice variety. Because it was the first crop and there was a lot of rain, the rice yield was not high, only reaching more than 6 tons/ha.

However, the price of rice continues to decrease, making very little profit. Mr. Phu said: “Last winter-spring crop, my family sold rice for 7,000 VND/kg. This crop, I sell rice for 6,350 VND/kg, so I mainly make a profit from labor. Compared to the past few years, the price of rice this crop is the lowest.”

According to Ms. Thai Thi Kim Thoa, a trader specializing in purchasing rice in the Western provinces, rice prices in the Mekong Delta region are decreasing. Compared to the beginning of the summer-autumn crop, rice prices are currently down about 300 VND/kg. However, because of the deposit with farmers, they are forced to buy at the agreed price.

Specifically, fresh rice Dai Thom 8 is currently priced at 6,400 VND/kg, OM 18 is priced at 6,300 VND/kg... “On average, I buy about 2,000 tons of rice per crop. I buy rice to dry, mill some to sell to the market, and sell some to factories. In recent years, the price of rice has fluctuated continuously, making it very difficult to do.

I currently have about 700 tons of winter-spring rice left. The reason is that rice exports and domestic consumption are slow. With the current developments in the export market, rice prices are expected to continue to decrease slightly in the coming time," Ms. Thoa shared.

WILL RICE PRICES CONTINUE TO FALL?

Along with paddy prices, recently, rice prices have not shown any signs of improvement and consumption is also slow.

According to the Provincial People's Committee, in the first 7 months of the year, the province's export turnover reached 5.23 billion USD, up 2.8% over the same period and reaching 56.9% of the yearly plan. Rice export continued to be a bright spot, increasing sharply in both volume, up 81.6% and value, up 47.7%.

According to Mr. Huynh Van Danh, Director of Vinh Hien Company Limited (Phu Thanh Commune, Dong Thap Province), this summer-autumn crop, the company will produce and consume nearly 500 hectares of rice; the estimated purchased output is from 8,000 - 10,000 tons.

Accordingly, the company purchases Dai Thom 8 rice at 6,500 VND/kg, OM 5451 from 6,000 - 6,100 VND/kg, ST25 about 9,000 VND/kg. "Compared to the winter-spring crop, the price of rice has decreased by about 300 VND/kg. At this price, farmers will face difficulties due to reduced profits. Currently, rice consumption is slow" - Mr. Danh added.

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Tam (Mai Tu Hoanh Company Limited in Cai Be Commune, Dong Thap Province), recently, rice prices have fluctuated slightly. However, this has not affected the business's operations. Because the unit did not sign an export contract like some other businesses, this year, the domestic rice market consumed slower than previous years. "This summer-autumn crop, the company imported less raw rice than in previous years.

With the Philippines temporarily suspending rice imports for 2 months, it is predicted that there will be a lot of rice in stock. At that time, the possibility of rice prices continuing to decrease. In the rice business, stable prices are easy for businesses, but fluctuations are very difficult. With the current rice prices, people are the ones having the most difficulty.

In recent days, the Philippines (Vietnam's largest rice export market) has decided to temporarily suspend rice imports for 60 days, starting from September 1, 2025. This is expected to impact our country's rice market.

According to a business specializing in supplying rice for export in Ba Bac market area, Cai Be commune, after the news that the Philippines will temporarily stop importing rice for 2 months, rice prices in the area are still stable.

However, this will affect signed contracts, increasing the amount of rice in stock. Currently, the company still has a lot of rice in stock. Therefore, the company is closely monitoring market developments to promptly adjust its purchases.

ANH THU

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/kinh-te/202508/gia-lua-tiep-tuc-giam-nong-dan-them-kho-1048214/