On the golden rice fields

The rice fields are turning golden yellow. Throughout the province, farmers are busy harvesting the winter-spring crop. On the canals, traders dock their boats to buy rice from farmers, creating a bustling scene of harvest season.

Less joyful at the beginning of the rice harvest.

Following the rural road deep into Vinh Thanh commune (Chau Thanh district), we met farmers harvesting rice. Stopping to inquire, we learned that the price of rice had dropped to 5,500 VND/kg at the beginning of the season, leaving farmers unhappy. Farmer Cao Minh Dien (56 years old) said that the price of rice at the start of this winter-spring season was very low, while the cost of fertilizers and pesticides remained high. Therefore, farmers were not making a profit. While waiting for traders to weigh his rice, Mr. Dien expressed: “The winter-spring season is the main production season of the year because the weather is very favorable, and the rice is easy to sell to traders. However, with such low prices, everyone is sad because of the high investment costs and the labor spent caring for the crop for over three months.”

In the 2024 autumn-winter crop season, Mr. Dien cultivated 7 acres of rice using the OM380 variety, achieving a yield of 1 ton per acre. Traders came directly to the fields to purchase the rice at 7,100 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, Mr. Dien earned a profit of approximately 4 million VND per acre. Mr. Dien said that this rice variety is commonly grown by farmers in the commune. The growing period from harvest to harvest is about 3 months, and the cultivation techniques are quite simple, saving time and costs for growers. However, currently, the land within the embankment has become depleted due to multiple cropping seasons in a year, requiring farmers to spend a lot of money on fertilizers to achieve high yields. "Currently, one bag of nitrogen fertilizer costs 1.1 million VND, not including the cost of pesticides. My field requires 2 bags per acre per crop. This winter-spring season, I'm practically breaking even," Mr. Dien lamented.

Harvesting rice in the field

Sharing the same sentiment as his brother, Mr. Cao Minh Kha (54 years old), who cultivates over 30 acres of OM380 rice, has a yield of over 1 ton per acre (approximately 1000 square meters). Yields remain stable, but rice prices have plummeted, with Mr. Kha only able to sell his rice for 5,600 VND/kg. He says that this winter-spring crop is unprofitable due to increased prices of fertilizers, pesticides, plant nutrients, labor, and seeds. For farmers who rent land for production, it's considered a significant loss. Mr. Kha explained that the soil has become "hardened" in recent years, diseases have attacked, making rice cultivation difficult. Furthermore, during production, they encountered the problem of "mixed rice" (rice plants growing out of the same variety), requiring them to hire people to harvest the remaining rice at a cost of 1 million VND per acre...

Watching the heavy sacks of rice being carried down to the boats by hired laborers to be weighed for traders at low prices, Mr. Dien and his brothers felt regretful, because three months of hard work had yielded no profit. The farmers anticipate that if rice prices don't rise, they will abandon their land and stop farming, as the summer-autumn season's heavy rains easily cause the rice to fall over, resulting in low yields and losses. "I'll let the land rest, and I'll take a break to find other work. We'll wait until the autumn-winter season to start preparing the land, fertilizing... and planting rice will be profitable," Mr. Dien said.

Towards the end of the harvest season, rice prices "sneak" up.

The bypass road of National Highway 91 winds through the rice fields of Chau Doc City, with golden rice stalks heavy with grain on both sides, and farmers busily harvesting rice to sell to traders. For a long time, the rice fields along this bypass have been known to visitors from afar as a beautiful golden landscape, like a picturesque countryside painting. When visiting Ba Chua Xu Mountain, tourists can see the vast, breathtaking rice fields, a sight rarely found elsewhere. The midday sun shines directly on the fields, drying the golden grains, and at this time, farmers hire combine harvesters to operate in their fields. Farmers harvest rice in the late afternoon because at this time the rice dries naturally without needing to be sun-dried, making it very popular with traders.

In the rice fields of Vinh Te commune, farmer Nguyen Van Be is carrying a bundle of rice sacks, running alongside a combine harvester. The rice, benefiting from the good sunshine, dries quickly, resulting in shiny, high-quality grains, and traders are not forcing down prices. “In the morning, when the rice is still wet with dew, traders complain when farmers harvest it. Having farmed for many years, we have experience in harvesting, so we can sell at a higher price,” Mr. Be explained. This winter-spring season, farmers in Vinh Te, Vinh Chau communes and Nui Sam ward planted later than in neighboring areas. Thanks to the late planting, farmers are harvesting a few weeks later, and rice prices have risen compared to the beginning of the season.

Meeting Mr. Tran Van Hien walking along the edge of his rice field, we asked about the price of rice this season. Mr. Hien excitedly shared that he cultivated 2 hectares of OM18 rice, and traders bought fresh rice at the field for 6,900 VND/kg. At this price, Mr. Hien earned about 2 million VND per hectare after deducting expenses. For several years now, farmers have been anxious about every rice crop, as it depends on the export market. The recurring cycle of "bumper harvest, low prices" seems to have no end. At the beginning of this winter-spring season, rice prices fluctuated between 5,300 and 5,500 VND/kg, causing great concern among farmers. "Fortunately, at the end of the winter-spring season, rice in many places was harvested, but this field was harvested late, so the price of rice increased again, making farmers happy," Mr. Hien said joyfully.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dong (a rice trader) expressed that when rice prices rise again, both farmers and traders are happy. With higher prices, farmers can sell more easily, and traders can buy more easily. Now, rice farmers face less hardship than before due to the application of mechanization in the fields, from sowing to harvesting. “When the rice is transported to the dike, traders come right to weigh it. Farmers receive cash in the field, and everyone is happy. Hopefully, in the upcoming summer-autumn crop, rice prices will stabilize, and farmers will make a profit to continue reinvesting in production,” Mr. Dong shared.

LUU MY

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/tren-dong-lua-vang-a418619.html