Mekong Delta rice production to increase despite possible early flooding

File photo of rice harvest in the Mekong Delta. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called for an increase in fall-winter rice production in the Mekong Delta this year - PHOTO: TL

CANTHO – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called for an increase in fall-winter rice production in the Mekong Delta this year although flooding is forecast to come early.

Speaking at a conference on rice production in the Mekong Delta in Can Tho City on Friday, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh told local authorities to take measures to ensure safety for rice production in the fall-winter season.

According to Doanh, this rice farming season is an important rice season as the price of this food staple is increasing but rice output in the winter-spring season dipped as weather anomaly brought early rain and fewer days of sunshine.

Le Thanh Tung at the ministry’s Department of Crop Production said rice output in the Mekong Delta this fall-winter season is estimated at 4.65 million tons, up by over 446,000 tons compared to the same period last year. The delta’s rice acreage will reach 832,000 hectares, up by 7,071 hectares against 2016, with rice productivity projected at 5.6 tons per hectare, up half a ton per hectare year-on-year.

According to Tung, a spike in rice output in the fall-winter crop can make up for a decrease of 226,095 tons in the winter-spring crop. The rice export outlook is brighter as rice export is expected to grow in both volume and value. All the 13 Mekong Delta provinces now grow fall-winter rice, up from just five around 10 years ago.

Tung said those areas not prone to flooding will be given priority to develop the fall-winter rice crop. Measures will be taken to minimize impacts of flooding on rice farming, including reinforcing dykes, selecting suitable rice varieties and changing harvest, transport and drying methods.

The southern weather center forecast flooding may come in the Mekong Delta sooner than normal this year. In late July, upstream water levels of the Mekong River in Tan Chau District, Dong Thap Province and Chau Doc District, An Giang Province could rise to 2.5-3 meters, exposing Tan Hung and Vinh Hung districts of Long An Province and some farming areas in An Giang and Dong Thap provinces to flood risk.

Data of the Vietnam Food Association showed the country’s January-May rice exports reached 2.3 million tons, up 9.71%, with a total FOB value of nearly US$975 million, up 11.29%, and the CIF value of over US$1 billion, up 12.29% compared to the same period of 2015.

The average FOB price was US$427.17 per ton, up US$6.06 per ton. Vietnamese rice traders signed contracts to export over 3.5 million tons of rice while rice inventory was over 1.15 million tons.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the average rice production cost of the Mekong Delta in the summer-fall crop is estimated at VND3,992 (US$0.18) per kilo, up VND154 per kilo versus the same period last year. Ben Tre Province has the highest rice production cost, VND5,192 per kilo, and Ca Mau Province has the lowest cost, VND3,148 per kilo