Mr. Nguyen Minh Canh - Vinh Loc commune, a producer of BL9 rice - said that he has not yet sown but is already worried when rice prices continuously decrease. What makes Mr. Canh even more worried is that the next production crop has not yet signed a consumption contract, so he does not know what price the product will be purchased at.
At Chien Thang Rice - Shrimp Service Cooperative, Vinh Loc commune, the situation of consumption linkage is also a matter of concern.
Mr. Tran Van Lieu - Director of the Cooperative - said that the unit has more than 200ha of rice production, but the linkage between businesses and cooperatives is not strong enough, while rice prices are at a low level.
According to Mr. Lieu, the price of commercial rice on the market currently has types up to 40,000 VND/kg, while the price of raw rice is much lower.
If rice prices are low, farmers will find it very difficult to make a profit, especially when the weather is erratic and production costs are still high. If people want to keep high-quality rice varieties, there must be a stable output.
With Ba Dinh General Agriculture Cooperative - where BL9 rice products have just been honored as the best rice in the Mekong Delta, Mr. Nong Van Thach - Chairman of the Board of Directors cum Director of the Cooperative - said that product quality must be built right from the raw material area.
For large-scale production, the most important issue is linkage. Farmers cannot do it individually but need coordination between farmers, cooperatives, businesses, technical staff and consuming units" - Mr. Thach emphasized.
According to the Sub-Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ca Mau province, to build a sustainable rice brand, first of all, it is necessary to create products with stable, uniform quality and control the entire production process.
Mr. Lu Trung Hieu - Deputy Head of Processing and Market Development Department - said that it is necessary to develop BL9 raw material area in a concentrated direction, suitable for the ecological conditions of rice - shrimp. The raw material area needs to be linked to cooperatives and businesses to organize production, control processes, trace origins, and ensure output.
According to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Vu - Vice Chairman of Vinh Loc Commune People's Committee, the rice - shrimp area has many advantages to develop rice varieties such as ST24, ST25, DT8, OM18, BL9, One Red Bush. However, the selection of varieties cannot only be based on yield but must consider quality, economic efficiency, adaptability to the rice - shrimp ecosystem and market requirements.
According to the Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province currently does not have a large-scale direct rice export enterprise. Most of farmers' rice is sold to businesses outside the province, a small part is sold to cooperatives, but the output is not much. This reality makes the output problem still a big problem for high-quality rice production areas.
