Why did the business stop linking to produce organic rice ST25 Cam Binh?

Many difficulties in the linking process

In 2022, Hoa Lac IEC Joint Stock Company (Thach Ha) was established, starting a business in the agricultural sector with the goal of providing the market with high-quality rice products, thereby moving towards deep processing. In the summer-autumn crop of 2023, the company officially "joined hands" with farmers in Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune to produce ST25 organic rice.

In July 2024, the Organic Rice Production Cooperative of Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune was granted a certificate for organic rice production area and Hoa Lac IEC Joint Stock Company was granted a certificate for organic rice products.

After many efforts, in the summer-autumn crop of 2024, people, businesses and local authorities were happy when the 5-hectare production area was granted organic certification by the TQC CGLOBAL Testing and Certification Center ( Hanoi ) according to Vietnamese Standard TCVN 11041-2:2017. This is the premise for people and businesses to continue to expand the production area by 5.6 hectares in the organic direction. However, in the spring crop of 2024, the production chain began to encounter difficulties and inadequacies.

Mr. Duong The Hoang - Director of Hoa Lac IEC Joint Stock Company shared: “When we started implementing the organic rice production model, we had high expectations but also lacked practical experience in rice cultivation in the locality. In the spring crop of 2024, the transplanted rice encountered a long period of deep cold, so it had to be replanted. To support farmers, the company compensated for losses by providing additional seedlings for replanting and pruning when they were damaged by snails.”

The organic rice production area in Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune used to be a model that many localities came to learn from and replicate.

Another major disadvantage that the enterprise faces is the growth characteristics of the ST25 variety - this is a longer-term variety than locally structured varieties. When other varieties have reached the ripening stage, ST25 will begin to flower. While the irrigation water management of the region follows the principle of uniformity from the Ke Go canal system, the last irrigation period ended when the ST25 rice was in the flowering stage, so it was at a disadvantage. Due to lack of water, when harvested, the rate of broken grains was about 30%, and the finished rice only reached about 50%.

“After the summer-autumn crop in 2024, both the people, local authorities and businesses had to consider the association because our need is to produce ST25 variety, while the production area is in the general production planning, mainly short-term rice varieties. If we want to continue investing, we need to have our own pumping station to supply water, while the resources are too large, but if this situation continues, it will be very difficult to produce 2 crops/year. Those are the difficulties that we did not fully anticipate before entering the association” - Director of Hoa Lac IEC Joint Stock Company Duong The Hoang shared.

Cam Binh farmers are sitting on hot coals because ST25 organic rice is being "forced to sell at a lower price"

Organic rice producers in Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune ( Ha Tinh city ) are struggling to find a channel to sell their products because businesses have stopped cooperating and traders are buying at low prices.

In the spring crop of 2025, Hoa Lac IEC Joint Stock Company came to work with farmers and local authorities with the desire to continue to maintain organic rice production. However, the agreement did not reach a consensus, the enterprise only considered if the area ensured the organic process as committed, meeting the quality of the end-of-season product, the company would raise the issue of purchasing.

“At harvest time, local authorities and people contacted the company to discuss purchasing, but because we had stopped supplying ST25 organic rice to the market, this could not be done. The company tried to contact some companies in the South, but the prices offered by these companies were lower than people's expectations, so no agreement was reached,” added Mr. Duong The Hoang, Director of Hoa Lac IEC Joint Stock Company.

People in Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune harvest ST25 organic rice.

Need to build strong, sustainable relationships

In fact, starting from the organic rice production association in Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune, Hoa Lac IEC Joint Stock Company has put a lot of effort and resources into this but has not achieved the expected results. Currently, some people after harvesting previous crops have not paid their debts to the enterprise. The enterprise is temporarily suspending the implementation of projects in the field of rice production to shape, restructure and build a sustainable development roadmap.

Mr. Nguyen Thien Toan - Chairman of Cam Binh Commune People's Committee said: "The difficulty of linking in agricultural production is that enterprises work with many households, so when implementing, there will be conflicting opinions, making it difficult to find a common voice. In the organic rice production area of Binh Quang village, the local government has stepped in very strongly, devoted a lot of effort, but the 2025 spring crop could not maintain the signed agreement. Currently, implementing the 2025 summer-autumn crop, people do not agree to continue producing ST25 organic rice but are sowing Khang Dan rice."

To be granted organic certification in the rice production area of Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune is not an easy process for the local government, people and businesses. The suspension of the organic rice production model in Binh Quang village is an undesirable result, a valuable lesson in production linkage. While not thoroughly researching and analyzing: farming practices, regional characteristics, irrigation conditions, etc., the enterprise has deployed and introduced inappropriate varieties, so the results are not as expected. In addition, the local government, in its role of managing and directing production, has not played the role of "referee" well. Since the beginning of the spring crop of 2025, although there have been 2-3 meetings between the commune, businesses and farmers, the minutes have not been recorded transparently; the organic production diary still has many unreasonable contents, especially there is no signed purchase contract. This is the "gap" that affects the purchase at the end of the crop. When the business fell into a situation of force majeure, the local government had to "travel" from North to South to find a unit to purchase rice for farmers.

In the summer-autumn crop of 2025, the organic rice production area of Binh Quang village will switch to sowing Khang Dan rice.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Tong Phong - Deputy Head of the Department of Crop Production and Livestock (Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ha Tinh) said: “The story in the organic rice production area of Binh Quang village, Cam Binh commune is a lesson for localities to learn from. For the model to develop sustainably and expand in scale, it is important to build a close connection between businesses - government - people.

First of all, the role of enterprises needs to be clearly defined. Enterprises are not only units that consume products but also the core leading the value chain. They need to sign a contract to commit to consumption, determine specific output, and at the same time provide technical support and input materials to ensure product quality. The contract must have clear legality. In addition, when entering production, enterprises need to carefully study the raw material area to ensure production activities, especially irrigation factors. The processing capacity and market development of enterprises are also decisive factors because only when enterprises have stable output can they ensure long-term purchases for farmers.

Cam Binh farmers worked very hard to build an organic rice production area but now do not continue to maintain ST25 rice production.

Besides the role of enterprises, farmers are the fundamental link in the chain. To participate in organic production, people need to change their mindset, from small-scale production to production according to processes and under control. Strictly following organic processes, not using chemicals, not selling rice outside of contracts will help ensure product quality and the reputation of raw material areas. In particular, after achieving organic certification according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, localities must maintain organic production processes to retain the certification, thereby developing organic agriculture in a sustainable and multi-value direction.

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/vi-sao-doanh-nghiep-dung-lien-ket-san-xuat-lua-huu-co-st25-cam-binh-post289437.html