Professor Vo Tong Xuan is honored Food Hero Award

The ceremony honoring initiatives and efforts to develop sustainable food - Food Hero Awards 2023 was recently held in Ho Chi Minh City. This event awarded Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan the "Lifetime Achievement" Award. The award is a deep gratitude to the research career and outstanding contributions of Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan in the work of bringing Vietnam from a post-war famine country to a current rice exporting powerhouse.

As one of the pioneers in rice research in Vietnam, Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan is a shining example that inspires many young people today. Even though he is over 80, his enthusiasm for sowing words in the fields is still present in his efforts to bring the country's strong rice production to the international level, aiming to help many countries worldwide develop wet rice cultivation, moving towards rice self-reliance to escape poverty sustainably.

Sharing at the Award Ceremony, Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan sent the message to the young generation: Vietnam is a country that develops from agriculture, so it is in great need of good agricultural workers. In today's 4.0 era, students can access knowledge and research thanks to modern digital technology. Therefore, young people must study diligently and focus on learning carefully and deeply to become excellent children and talented people to build the country in the future.

At the ceremony, the "Lifetime Achievement" Award was also awarded to Mr. Sooksunt Jiumjaswanglerg, Vice Chairman of the CPF Executive Council, for his contributions to the journey with farmers to develop the agricultural industry and improve the quality of life. Improve food quality and increase nutrition for Vietnamese people.

With experience from C.P. Group, he brought Vietnam outstanding technological advances to develop the livestock industry in both quantity and quality, gradually changing the way of thinking about effective agriculture for millions of Vietnamese farmers for nearly 30 years.

Food Hero Awards 2023 is organized by the Association for Food Transparency (AFT) and the Food Share Sustainable Food Development Network to recognize and honor individuals, groups, and businesses making persistent, sustainable efforts on the journey of developing startup ideas and building sustainable values for the community agriculture and food industry in Vietnam. This is an activity in a series of events celebrating the 43rd anniversary of World Food Day (October 16, 1979 - October 16, 2023) and the 78th anniversary of the establishment of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The award has received special attention from leaders of ministries, departments, branches, individuals, groups, businesses... across the country through the system of candidacy and nomination documents sent to the Appraisal Council of Food Hero Awards. To summarize the program, 20 individuals and units with outstanding, groundbreaking, and typical food startup ideas, initiatives, solutions, models, and social projects were named in the Honor Ceremony with 3 main categories: Lifetime Achievement, Outstanding Achievement, and Creating Social Impact.

Professor - Doctor, People's Teacher Vo Tong Xuan is a scientist in agriculture, a great teacher in training the country's scientific workforce for many decades, and is a "father" of many delicious rice varieties of the Mekong Delta rice area.

He was recognized by the State of Vietnam as a Hero of Labor for his many contributions to the cause of education in this region.

Previously, in July, Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan commented that climate change has had a strong impact globally, threatening food security. In India, the country with the most significant rice export volume in the world - at the end of July 2023, it banned the export of all types of ordinary rice. After India, other countries such as Russia and the UAE banned rice exports to ensure domestic food security.

The moves of the above countries have pushed up global rice prices rapidly because demand is more significant than supply, and many countries have stepped up rice purchases to serve the domestic market.

With this situation, Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan affirmed that world rice prices would continue to increase. This was a golden opportunity for us, and Vietnam must take advantage of it to export more rice at even higher prices.

Therefore, Vietnam needs a long-term strategy to supply rice to other countries at higher prices, establishing a new rice price level. This will help farmers "reduce suffering," businesses will also have an opportunity to negotiate long-term contracts with importers at suitable prices.