The solution to stable development and production of rice for hau giang and western region of hau river

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, only 25% of farmers can access to market information and 90% of agricultural products are sold in their original forms and 60% of them are forced to sell at low prices. Besides the two said elements and the faced difficulty of rice field in the Mekong Delta, the scale of each family with about 1ha of land where 3 crops per year are cultivated is not enough for expenses in a family with 4-5 people. Meanwhile, the number of households with land area below 0.5 /household are increasing more and more, the rural human resource is reduced and gets old, and more literate healthy young labors are leaving the rural areas. All the above combined with the problem of low-education population will obstruct the development of the Mekong Delta.

The solution to stable development of rice in Hau Giang and the western area of Hau River is the speech content of DSc. Le Van Banh, Director of Mekong Delta Rice Institute in the seminar of: Viet Nam Rice. According to DSc. Le Van Banh, developing agriculture, the farmers in rural area will need many strategic and comprehensive solutions to rice in the Mekong Delta in generally and Hau Giang in the western area of Hau River in specifically. The solution of “Regional association and 4-unit participation” is very important. The first to associate with scientific research units such as institutes/schools to:

1. Apply scientific technological solutions in selecting and creating variety for finding rice varieties with high stable productivity, good quality rice, pest and disease resistance, especially brown backed rice plant hoppers, yellow dwarf disease, twisted leaves dwarf disease, rice blast disease and adjust to the ecology in small area and global climate changes.
2. Transfer rice production technique solutions adjusting to economic integration and climate change, apply the progress of science and high technology in rice production for high productivity, good quality and increasing product value and profit for farmers.
3. Develop forms of economic cooperation to benefit in investment, goods production with enough quantity to penetrate markets and ensure output market, in which 4-unit association is a key and is interested most.
4. Increase the rice production competence and competition in the Mekong Delta, especially the western area of Hau River from input service, rice producion organization, maintenance and preservation, processing and consumption, in which organizing farmers association in rice supply chain and building trade name especially.

To carry out the project of “Solution to rice production and consumption through regional association and 4-unit participation”, the 4 following solutions must be carried out:

• Applying scientific technological solutions in selecting and creating rice varieties;
• Rice production technique solution adjusting to economic integration and climate changes;
• Rice production organization and association; and
• Solution to rice market development

Analyzing and concretizing 4 solutions, DSc. Le Van Banh confirms: In the world now, rice is considered as a political goods rather than economic goods. The density of rice sold on markets is very little compared to the total annual production output, the price on the international market is usually dependent on food security policy of each country, and the people producing rice become rich in few places etc. Therefore, if the rice production target is to ensure national food security, the State must have a suitable policy for farmers, which makes rice farming more attractive.

by Tuyet An