Rice fields in Kien Giang province’s Go Quao district. (Photo: VNA) Speaking at a seminar in Can Tho city last week, he said localities shouldproperly structure the proportion of rice varieties such as speciality andfragrant ones to capitalise on local advantages.
Farmers should use advanced farming techniques to increase yields and reducecosts, he said.
They should sow the crop early, especially in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta’scoastal areas, to avoid the impacts of saltwater intrusion at the end of the crop,he said.
He instructed the Directorate of Water Resources and the ministry’s researchagencies to closely monitor water resources and inform localities aboutforecasts so that they can proactively take measures to cope with possiblewater shortage and saltwater intrusion.
In the 2022 – 23 dry season intrusion of seawater is forecast to occur earlierand further.
The southern region is estimated to grow about 1.58 million hectares of thewinter-spring rice, according to the Plant Cultivation Department.
The Cuu Long Delta, the country’s rice granary, will account for 1.5 millionhectares.
Le Thanh Tung, deputy head of the Plant Cultivation Department, said in thedelta’s coastal areas in Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces,400,000ha should be sowed next month to avoid saltwater.
Elsewhere, the sowing should finish by the end of the year, he said.
Areas situated 20-30 km from the coast should grow salt-resistant ricevarieties with a short maturity period of 90 days, and those 30-70km awayshould prioritise high-quality varieties of 90 – 105 days, he said.
The delta’s upstream areas should prioritise speciality and fragrant rice of 90– 105 days, he added.
The department has encouraged farmers to grow high-quality and fragrant ricevarieties such as Dai Thom 8, OM 5451 and OM 18 to meet export demand.
In the ongoing autumn-winter rice crop, the delta has planted 700,000ha andexpects a yield of 5.7 tonnes per hectare.
The increasing use of machinery and advanced farming techniques has helpedreduce the quantity of seeds used.
Tung said the key to reducing costs was bringing down the use of seeds toaround 80 kilogrammes per hectare.
“When the quantity of seeds is reduced, the cost for fertilisers, pesticidesand irrigation will reduce and farmers’ earnings will increase.”
In the autumn-winter crop, high-quality, fragrant and stickyvarieties account for 80%, helping increase farmers’ incomes and exports.
Vietnam exported 4.38 million tonnes of rice worth nearly 2.4billion USD in the first eight months of the year, up 20.7% and 9.9%.
Nguyen Ngoc Nam, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, said: “Vietnam islikely to export 6.3-6.5 million tonnes of rice this year.”
The exports mostly go to Asian and African markets./.
VNA
