Risk of breakdown of large-scale paddy field rearing its ugly head

The benefits of economy in the program of large-scale rice fields are easily seen; nevertheless, there have shown inadequacies resulting in a risk of a breakdown rearing its ugly head.

 

Risk of breakdown of large-scale paddy field rearing its ugly head ảnh 1 Illustrative photo
Individuals, co-operatives, co-operative groups, and companies have joined hands with farmers to carry out the large-scale rice field program. A large-scale rice field is created by pooling individual farmers’ fields to increase productivity and reduce costs.
In April 2022, farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces who have been participating in the large-scale paddy field program were extremely excited because the prices of the winter-spring rice crop are rather high generating their good income. Farmer Le Thanh Nguyen, a member of Phu Xuan Cooperative in Dong Thap Province’s Tam Nong District said that his family has joined the cooperative since 2011 until now, and every year growing rice is profitable. Especially, this year, despite the increase in the price of agricultural inputs, thanks to the sustainable output link, this crop can make a profit of VND25 million- VND30 million per hectare.
Doan Phuong Binh, a member of Thuan Tien cooperative in Gao Giong Commune in Cao Lanh District recalled that he joined the program in the middle of 2014 after the local administration and the cooperative encouraged him. He agreed to combine his 1.2ha of production land into the large field. Thanks to the cooperative’s technical support and irrigation pump economically while enterprises signed contracts to buy all rice; therefore, his income has been raised.
73-year-old Nguyen Van Dien who has been participated in the program with 10 hectares of rice production early, Mr. Dien netted hundreds of millions of Vietnam dong. He revealed this year’s winter-spring crop is better because the rice price is stable; he earned about VND30 million per ha excluding expenses.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, currently, the Mekong Delta provinces implement the program, accounting for a ratio of about 10 percent-20 percent compared to the total rice production area of the region. However, after the time when the program was blooming in localities in the Mekong Delta, it tended to slow down; worse, some localities have even shown signs of decline.
When the large paddy field program started, not only local authorities but also the agricultural sector, farmers and businesses saw the opportunity to create value chain linkages, gradually ending the fragmented production. Moreover, it will help end the circumstance that farmers sow dozens of different rice varieties in the same field, then businesses buy hybrid rice varieties for export.
Giant companies including Gentraco, Loc Troi, Trung An agreed to provide seeds, and agricultural materials to farmers; furthermore, these companies signed contracts to buy all rice for farmers. More than 7,000ha of rice per year has been signed by Trung An Hi-tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company in Can Tho City with farmers participating in the program in many provinces in the Mekong Delta in recent years.
The centralized production has ensured the supply of high-quality purebred rice for export to different markets by segment. However, General Director of Trung An Hi-tech Agriculture Company Pham Thai Binh shared, that the field area under the program is still small not as expected regrettably.
Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Kien Giang Province Do Minh Nhut said that since the 1960s, Japan has started to implement a large-scale agricultural production program for all kinds of agricultural products, and rice production accounts for a high proportion.
After Japan, the countries that have successfully deployed the large-field program are Thailand, Malaysia, and China...
In Vietnam, since 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has implemented the program in the Mekong Delta. In the 2011 summer-autumn crop, the Mekong Delta has 8,000 hectares, with 6,400 households in the two provinces of An Giang and Ben Tre participating in rice farming under the program. By 2015, the rice area under the program increased 25 times, up to 200,000 ha mostly in the provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap, Kien Giang, Can Tho...
However, there have been many reasons including the consumption contract between farmers and businesses, so the program gradually atrophied. Therefore, the goal of connecting farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and the state into a chain of agricultural production for domestic and export markets has not been achieved as expected.
Starting more than 10 years ago, the program of large-scale paddy field" opened a new trend for Vietnam's agriculture in general and the Mekong Delta in particular. The program was yielding positive results like increasing farmers’ incomes and providing them with guaranteed outlets for their crops.
Farmers benefit by sowing seeds at the same time to prevent disease outbreaks, using machines and applying technologies in production to meet exporting enterprises’ requirements. The large-scale fields produce two to three rice crops per year.

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