Rice seed enterprises find ways to adapt to the Covid times

Using the form of sales promotion and online customer consulting, focusing on the local market, rice seed production and trading enterprises still can stabilize consumption.

DOSECO adapts to the difficulties in the selling season by doing business online, maintaining a connection with farmers and rice seed dealers. Photo: Le Hoang Vu.

Dong Thap Seed Joint Stock Company (DOSECO) is a unit specializing in the production and supply of high-quality rice seed products in the southern region. During these recent times, DOSECO has encountered many difficulties in the rice seed business and production due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

The total production of rice seeds sold in the past time is estimated to have decreased by more than 30%. Unlike the previous years, only in July every year, the company's amount of rice seeds sold for farmers to sow the autumn-winter crop was about 500 tons, now only 200 tons of rice seeds are sold, which is considered a decrease of more than 50% orders of rice seeds sold to the market.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Director of Dong Thap Seed JSC, said: This is currently a very hard time for everything. Customers can be contacted and unable to go, trucks transporting rice seeds to agents in the provinces are also facing difficulties because each locality has a different way of inspecting and preventing the epidemic.

Payment is also delayed because agents are afraid to go to the bank as they have to contact many people, the company's staff cannot visit farmers in the Cuu Long Delta provinces that have rice seed production association contracts with the company…

Upon facing these difficulties, the company has increased adaptation by doing business online to stay connected with farmers and rice seed dealers. In order to maintain business efficiency, the company proactively applied technology development measures, switched from traditional business form to online environment in order to reach customers in the best way.

For example, the company uses Zalo, Facebook... which have pictures to exchange with customers and farmers more often. Unlike the old days, the company had to send employees to the fields of farmers associated with the company to provide technical guidance in rice seed cultivation, now they can just sit at the company and still give guidance to far-away farmers on rice cultivation practices in the autumn-winter crop.

According to Mr. Hong, in the context that the commodity transportation is facing hardship due to many impacts from the epidemic, the unit has been focusing more on markets inside the province since the transportation and delivery of goods is also more convenient than going outside the province anyway.

Up until now, the company's rice seed products are still produced and have stable output. Although slow, and output decreased slightly, businesses still accept it because this is the general situation during the prevention of the Covid-19 epidemic.