Farmers have slowed harvest of ripening winter spring rice in the Mekong Delta because unseasonable rains have caused many areas fall to the ground and prices have dropped continuously for the last couple of days.
According to Mr. Nguyen Cong Ly, owner of a combine harvester establishment in Cao Lanh district, Dong Thap, the price now drops to VND4,400 a kilogram of normal rice, VND4,900-5,000 a kilogram of fresh long grain rice and VND5,200 a kilogram of fragrant varieties.
The prices reduce by VND400-600 a kilogram on average compared to that in the early of the winter spring crop.
Talking to Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper yesterday, Mr. Ly said that many traders left their deposits, refusing to buy ready to harvest rice to mitigate losses.
Mr. Le Van Hoang from Phuong Thinh commune, Cao Lanh district said that traders left the deposit of VND200,000-300,000 a hectare they paid formerly to buy long grain rice at the price of VND5,400 a kilogram.
Farmers have been seeking consumption sources accepting low prices to reduce losses.
Some traders in Dong Thap, Vinh Long and Tien Giang provinces say that five percent broken rice price now approximates VND6,700 a kilogram, 25 percent broken rice is sold at VND6,500-6,600 a kilogram. These prices are not high but businesses have slowed buying, resulting in traders’ purchase reduction.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reports that the Mekong Delta has harvested over 1.2 million hectares of winter spring rice out of the total of 1.5 million hectares. Productivity reaches 6.4-6.5 tons a hectare.
In addition, local famers have sown over 450,000 hectares of summer autumn rice crop as per plan.
Last month, businesses exported nearly 419,000 tons of rice worth $186 million, taking the total number since early this year to one million tons worth $472 million.
