Businesses have signed contracts to export over 3.28 million tons of rice this year, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development yesterday.
Of these, 1.7 million tons worth US$738 million have been delivered, down 20 percent in value and 18 percent in volume over the same period last year.
Rice export is now facing difficulties with few orders and low prices. Key export markets of Vietnam including China, Malaysia and Indonesia have halted import while the condition has not recovered in other markets.
Businesses and traders have reduced or even stopped rice purchase in the Mekong Delta.
According to the Cultivation Department, the Mekong Delta has sowed 1.66 million hectares of summer autumn rice this crop, down over 8,300 hectares over the same period last year. The reduction is attributed to unstable price which has caused farmers to convert rice crop into vegetable and fruit farming.
Despite the department has advised rice growers to seed less than 10 percent of the IR 50404 variety but the ratio has reached 24 percent. Many farmers have cultivated without consumption contracts or orders from businesses, signaling more difficulties in consumption in the upcoming time.
