Can Tho (VNA) – Rice experts, businesses andmanagement officials gathered at a conference held in the Mekong Delta city ofCan Tho on November 3 to discuss measures to enhance the efficiency of Vietnam’srice value chain.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in October,Vietnam shipped abroad 700 tonnes of rice for 433 million USD, a 27% rise invalue compared to the same time of 2022.

The result pushed the total rice export volume in the first10 months of this year to 7.1 million tonnes with a value of nearly 4 billionUSD, up 17% and 35% year on year, respectively.

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) reported that as of November 1, Vietnamese rice hadrecorded the highest price among major world suppliers.

However, VFA Vice President Do Ha Nam held that high priceis not a real advantage but may become a reason for customers to seek othersupply sources with similar quality but lower prices, leading to a higher risk forVietnamese firms to lose the market shares to their Thai rivals.

Pham Quang Dieu, Chief Economist at Agro Monitor, held thatthis year, Vietnam can export 8 million tonnes of rice. However, he advisedexporters to be careful as 2024 inventory is predicted to stay low and thesupply of material rice may be limited.

Although this year, increase has been seen in both rice export volume andvalue, the Vietnamese rice export activities have experienced many fluctuationsdue to high input costs. Therefore, participants at the conference focused on seekingmeasures to minimise losses and optimise costs in rice processing,helping ensure profits for suppliers and exporters.

Data from the UN showed that the Vietnamese agriculturalsector has suffered a loss of 14-35%, in which that of the rice sector is about14% per year. Post-harvest losses have occurred at all stages, mostly thedrying process.

Experts held that in order to ensure best quality of rice,it is necessary for the sector to strengthen application of hightechnologies.

Cao Thanh Dat, Managing Director at Bühler Vietnam, said thatto enhance the value of Vietnamese rice and increase profits of all parties inthe rice value chain, it is crucial to apply technology to reduce losses inboth quality and quantity as well as energy costs. He introduced a number oflatest technological solutions in rice production and processing.

Agreeing with Dat, Jens Vinther Jensen, CEO of Food For FeedTech (FFT), suggested the use of modern drying technology and rice preservationtechnology to maintain best quality./.