HauGiang (VNA) – Continuing to restructure the rice sector towardshigher quality and value is among the measures recommended to boost rice exportsin the coming time.

TheMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) coordinated with thePeople’s Committee of the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang to hold a workshopon December 13 to look into the global rice market and trends in the timeahead. The event was part of the Vietnam - Hau Giang InternationalRice Festival 2023.

MARD Deputy Minister TranThanh Nam said the agricultural sector is working to train farmers insustainable practices, to form a safe, sustainable and competitive supply chainfor the sector. He proposed a policy to build a national brand for the ricesector, and develop the agricultural extension staff to improve capacity for farmers.

Inthe time ahead, the ministry will continue working with relevant ministries and agenciesto create mechanisms and conditions for forming rice value chain connectivityin not only the country but also the region and the world, he went on.

TheMARD is implementing a project on sustainably developing 1 million ha ofspecialised high-quality and low-emission rice farming in association withgreen growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030.

HauGiang has registered 46,000ha for the project, Chairman of the provincialPeople’s Council Tran Van Huyen said, describing the project as a practicalmove showing Vietnam as a responsible country contributing to a transparent,responsible, and sustainable global food system.

LeThanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the MARD’s Department of Quality, Processing andMarket Development, noted that favourable conditions for Vietnam’s rice exportsinclude effective Government policies, restriction of supply sources such as India, maintenance of traditional markets, and the high potentialof new markets.

However,he also pointed out some of the difficulties in the sector. These include unstable supply due tothe crop structure, climate change, and limited sale connectivity, along with the shortage of preservation and processing infrastructure and technology,strong competition, increasing protectionism and technical barriers, lowerconsumption due to economic uncertainty and high inflation, and pricevolatility.

Healso underlined the need to strengthen cooperation in producing high-quality grains while changing the structure of rice varieties cultivated to diversifyexport markets in conformity with the strategy for developing rice exportmarkets of Vietnam until 2030.

In2023, the rice farming area nationwide was 7.1 million ha withproductivity expected at 6.07 tonnes of unmilled rice per ha. The total outputwas at 43.1 million tonnes, rising about 0.4 million tonne from last year. Some 7.8 million tonnes of milled rice was exported during the first 11 months of thisyear to bring home an estimated 4.4 billion USD in revenue, according to theMARD./.