HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Since the novel coronavirus(COVID-19) epidemic will surely affect exports to China, diversifying marketsis an urgent requirement for Vietnamese rice exporters, experts have said.

The winter-spring rice crop harvest has begun in the Mekong Deltaregion.

In Hau Giang province 1,000ha of crops have been marginallyaffected by salinity but farmers have harvested hundreds of hectares of riceearly, and the yield is quite high at 7.7 tonnes per hectare.

Prices have decreased slightly since the beginning of theseason earlier this month because exports to China have ceased, said Tran ChiHung, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.

The price would continue to drop unless new markets arefound, he said.

Bui Thi Thanh Tam, General Director of VinaFoods 1Corporation, said five years ago China was the largest market for Vietnameserice, but now export markets have been expanded, meaning the novel coronavirusepidemic would not hit Vietnam's exports too badly.

The Philippines became the largest market for Vietnameserice, buying 885 million USD worth of rice last year, according to the GeneralDepartment of Customs. 

Do Ha Nam, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association,said China would continue to reduce rice imports this year.

But Vietnam has a chance to ship to Japan this year sincethat latter wants to diversify its import sources to other suppliers fromcountries that have signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), including Vietnam.

It now relies much on US supply. But to export toJapan, the Vietnamese agriculture sector needs support from authorities.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade focuses on developingmarkets and negotiating free trade agreements. The Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD) is in charge of production, including qualityimprovements.

Local authorities need to guide and encourage farmers toproduce organic rice.

Businesses also need to ensure the quality of the rice theyare exporting.

If these tasks are well co-ordinated, export growth could beensured, Tam said.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuongsaid global rice exports now are 36-40 million tonnes a year, with Vietnamaccounting for seven million tonnes, but its export value is not high becauseof its passive approach.

In the long term, the agricultural sector should look atreducing the total area under rice to a level that ensures food security andreasonable export volumes, he said.

It also needs to ensure the quality of the grain andpackaging, he said.

As for exports, Vietnam should expand to new markets likeAfrica and the Middle East besides regional countries such as Indonesia andSingapore, he said.

Vietnam's major competitor, Thailand, faces a severe drought,affecting rice production, while Singapore, which imports 30-40 percent of itsrice from Thailand, is considering diversifying import sources, MARD said.

Vietnam has shipped the grain to 150 countries andterritories in Asia, Africa and the Americas./.