MARD proposed Government support the purchase of summer-autumn rice reserves

On August 3, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had a virtual conference with two working groups to coordinate agricultural product production and supply and consumption.

Accordingly, only about 600,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice were harvested. August and September are the months when commodity rice production is at its highest. According to the Special Working Group in the South, the autumn-winter rice harvest supplies not only food but also seeds for the next winter-spring crop. If the output is enough, this crop's seed supply will be assured.

The Deputy Minister said that although the difficulties associated with labor during the summer-autumn rice harvest crop have been mostly addressed, no merchants have arrived to buy during the harvest season. Farmers are unsure about how to consume their crops, and this is a tough issue to resolve fast.

At the moment, the summer-autumn crop is harvesting heavily and producing abundantly, which readily results in merchants taking advantage of tough conditions. As a result, MARD should recommend to the government that it buy national rice reserves in order to boost demand, encourage farmers to maintain production, and guarantee production plans for the following seasons.

According to MARD leaders, since harvesting and buying summer-autumn rice are presently hampered by many obstacles, it is essential to encourage processing companies to purchase rice and transport it to warehouses. The present strategy should assist manufacturing provinces and small companies in their buying.

The Department of Crop Production reported that the overall sowing area for this year's summer-autumn crop in the Southern region is about 1.6 million hectares; the yield was estimated at 56.51 quintals per ha, an increase of 1.14 quintals per ha. Production is expected to reach 9 million tons, an increase of 120,000 tons over summer-autumn 2020.