Summer-autumn rice crop in the Mekong Delta: Break even is great!

To date, farmers in the Mekong Delta have harvested 1.46 million hectares of summer-autumn rice. Most rice farmers have not made a profit, or even lost money, due to the impact of fluctuations in the rice import market; and increased production costs due to extreme weather.

Low prices, low productivity

Looking at 6 hectares of ripe rice waiting to be harvested, Mr. Thieu Van Hai, Truong Long Tay commune, Can Tho city, said that for the past week, his family has been waiting for the price of rice to "rise" to harvest, but the results have not been as expected. At the beginning of the season, traders bought fresh rice at the field for 6,000 VND/kg, now it has decreased to 5,300-5,400 VND/kg. While this year's rice yield is not high, the price of materials has skyrocketed. "After deducting the cost, my family is considered to be working on our own land, there is no profit," Mr. Hai confided.

Farmers in the West harvest summer-autumn rice in anxiety as rice prices drop sharply. Photo: CAO PHONG

In the eastern region of Dong Thap province, the harvest of the late summer-autumn rice crop is facing many difficulties due to frequent rains. Mr. Lai Van Mung's family (Phu Thanh commune, Dong Thap province) has just finished harvesting more than 2 hectares of Dai Thom 8 rice. To avoid heavy losses in this summer-autumn rice crop, his family and many farmers accept to sell rice at low prices because at the end of the season, the longer it is left, the lower the yield will be due to damage by rats.

Records in the Mekong Delta region show that the price of fresh rice is currently only about 5,200-5,500 VND/kg, down 1,000-1,500 VND/kg compared to the previous month and 2,000-2,500 VND/kg lower than the same period last year. Along with the "plummeting" rice price, this year's summer-autumn crop's rice yield has also decreased sharply due to bad weather, heavy rain, and increased pests and diseases. Mr. Thai Van Chien (residing in Chau Thanh commune, Vinh Long province) said that he had just harvested 3 hectares of OM 5451 rice, with a yield of only 6.5 tons/ha, down nearly 1.5 tons/ha compared to the previous crop. "This year, any household that breaks even is happy, while those who rent land to grow rice are suffering heavy losses," Mr. Chien shared.

In the Dong Thap Muoi area (Tay Ninh province), there are still many areas of ripe summer-autumn rice, but farmers have not harvested it due to low prices. These rice fields are at risk of being flooded because the Mekong River has flooded many places. Mr. Dinh Chau Phong, Deputy Head of the Economic Department of Vinh Hung commune (Tay Ninh province), informed that the local government is coordinating with the provincial agricultural sector to urgently reinforce the dike; support farmers to harvest rice before the peak of the flood this year.

Minimize production costs

According to rice exporting enterprises, there are many reasons for the sharp decrease in rice prices in the Mekong Delta recently, including the Philippines (the import market for over 40% of Vietnam's total rice export output) temporarily suspending rice imports for 60 days, effective from September 1, 2025, to protect domestic farmers from falling rice prices.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), the average global white rice export price index last week was at 416 USD/ton, down 7 USD/ton compared to the previous week, 15 USD/ton compared to July 2025 and 228 USD/ton compared to the same period last year. Thailand's 5% broken rice is currently at about 356 USD/ton, down about 3 USD/ton compared to the previous week, down about 22 USD/ton compared to the previous month and down about 212 USD/ton compared to the same period last year.

In the Mekong Delta, over the past two weeks, rice prices have continued to decrease. By mid-August 2025, Vietnamese enterprises had exported 5.875 million tons of rice, worth over 3 billion USD, compared to the same period in 2024, an increase of 2.88% in quantity and a decrease of 16% in value. The increase in quantity but decrease in rice export value has reflected the difficult picture of rice exports in the world this year, posing a great demand for the agricultural sector to have a fundamental solution to stabilize rice output for farmers.

When the Philippines temporarily stopped importing rice, domestic rice processing enterprises also stopped purchasing rice. Meanwhile, at this time, the summer-autumn crop is in harvest season, supply exceeds demand, leading to a sharp drop in rice prices. "In addition, from the beginning of 2025 until now, the amount of rice imported from Cambodia to Vietnam is very large, leading to inventory. India also said it is about to release more than 20,000 tons of rice to the market... These factors have made rice exporting enterprises hesitant to purchase rice, which has had a negative impact on fresh rice prices," said Mr. Ly Thanh Tam, Director of Hoa Lua Company Limited (Tay Ninh).

Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of An Giang province has just issued a document requesting the Department of Industry and Trade to coordinate in boosting production and strengthening connections, promoting rice consumption. The focus is on working with rice trading companies, especially those with export licenses, requesting specific purchasing plans, promoting rice purchasing for farmers. Requesting the Department of Industry and Trade to coordinate and provide market information to promptly orient production.

The purchase needs to be implemented quickly and promptly, creating favorable conditions for farmers to plant the autumn-winter crop according to the crop schedule. This is also a way to stabilize farmers' psychology, avoiding the situation of dumping when rice prices decrease. Based on the above proposal, the Department of Industry and Trade of An Giang province has sent a document to rice export traders in the province, requesting to promote the consumption of summer-autumn rice in 2025. Rice trading and exporting enterprises must properly implement the production and consumption contracts signed with farmers and cooperatives, ensuring the harvest progress, avoiding congestion.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, said that in the context of rice export facing difficulties in prices, leading to a decrease in raw rice prices in the region, farmers need to make the most of advanced farming methods to reduce production costs. Specifically, thoroughly apply production measures according to the Project "Sustainable development of one million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta". In addition to reducing costs of using fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, etc., farmers need to take advantage of straw to develop a circular economy, enhance the value chain of straw, and increase income in the fields.

Losses due to massive planting of HB1 rice

In the freshwater area along the Ong Doc River and the West Sea (Ca Mau Province), hundreds of households have finished harvesting summer-autumn rice, but most of them are worried because they cannot sell fresh rice. Many farmers have to dry the rice and store it, but due to heavy rain, the quality has decreased. Explaining the reason, the leader of the People's Committee of Khanh Binh Commune (Ca Mau Province) said that last year, farmers planted HB1 rice variety which has high yield, easy consumption, and high price.

Seeing the effectiveness, this summer-autumn crop, most local farmers massively cultivated this rice variety. As a result, there was an excess supply, traders abandoned their deposits and farmers suffered losses. Faced with this reality, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ca Mau province Pham Thanh Ngai directed the Department of Agriculture and Environment to review the situation of summer-autumn rice consumption, connect businesses participating in rice consumption in Khanh Binh commune, and soon have solutions to overcome difficulties. At the same time, the Department of Agriculture and Environment was required to effectively link the production chain in the coming time, from seed selection, cultivation techniques to product output, ensuring that rice production meets market requirements so that consumption is favorable and prices are reasonable.

PV GROUP

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/vu-lua-he-thu-o-dbscl-hue-von-la-mung-post811497.html