Enterprises and cooperatives agree to support the establishment of the National Rice Council.

Regarding the proposal to establish a National Rice Council, on August 7, in an exchange with Dan Viet, a number of rice production enterprises and cooperatives expressed their support.

With 63 members and 103 associate members with a production area of ​​over 500 hectares of rice, Director of Cay Trom Agricultural Trade Service Cooperative (Long An) Bui Van Tuan said that if the National Rice Council is established, it will play a "central" role in providing information and regulating supply and demand of the rice industry, thereby creating a healthy business environment among enterprises.

Currently, enterprises purchase rice from farmers based on the winning bid price, so when an enterprise wins the bid with a low price, it means that the enterprise will purchase at a low price, which is very disadvantageous for farmers. When the National Rice Council is established, it will help enterprises share the same "goals and interests" and farmers will also benefit more.

In addition, the National Rice Council will play a role in orienting and reorganizing the rice production system according to the value chain, enhancing the position of Vietnamese rice in the international arena.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Phuoc Thanh IV Production - Trading Company Limited (Vinh Long) expressed his delight when the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade agreed and proposed to establish the National Rice Council.

"I strongly support the proposal to establish a National Rice Council, however, there should also be the participation of large enterprises operating in the rice industry, because these are experienced units, always grasp information about prices, supply and demand of the market, contributing to promoting development and increasing the value of Vietnamese rice," said Mr. Thanh.

According to Mr. Thanh, the National Rice Council was established as an "arbitrator" in regulating, distributing and updating information in the rice industry, avoiding unhealthy competition between businesses. In fact, businesses accept low winning bids, leading to low rice purchases from farmers, which greatly affects the income of rice growers.

Mr. Thanh also said that currently, the Project to grow 1 million hectares of high-quality rice in the Mekong Delta is showing very good initial results, therefore, the establishment of the National Rice Industry Council is also important for the success of this project, contributing to the sustainable development of the rice industry.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, rice is an important commodity for Vietnam's agricultural sector. In 2023, Vietnam exported 8.1 million tons of rice, an increase of 36.6% over the same period. This is also the highest level in the past 16 years. In the first seven months of the year, exports of this item brought in nearly 3.3 billion USD with 5.18 million tons.

Two Ministries agree to establish National Rice Council

Previously, on the afternoon of August 6, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan and Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien chaired a meeting to propose the establishment of a National Rice Council.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan pointed out that the current legal frameworks are revealing many issues that need to be considered, revised and supplemented when they have not created strong enough motivations and a favorable environment for producers and traders in rice export business; related information and data are not complete, authentic, timely and do not reflect reality, causing difficulties in operating and managing rice production and export at sensitive times.

Besides, the rice industry also has some limitations such as unplanned production leading to local surplus affecting producers; low income of rice farmers, life of some groups is still difficult.

"In the new context, the rice industry is facing many challenges and needs an effective coordination mechanism between ministries, sectors and localities in coordinating common rice industry activities in addition to the specialized management of the ministries. In that situation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have the idea and are highly unanimous in proposing the establishment of a National Rice Council," said Minister Le Minh Hoan.

On the side of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien acknowledged that, in addition to the achieved results, rice export activities still depend on traditional markets and have not diversified the market, causing certain impacts on export efficiency. Enterprises have not been proactive in input materials and still face difficulties in the transaction process.

"In particular, although they have a brand, businesses have not been able to use the Vietnamese rice brand in production and export activities, and have not created a Vietnamese rice product brand in the hearts of foreign consumers. Currently, in some markets, Vietnamese rice has a "standing" thanks to the efforts of the Government, ministries, branches and businesses, but rice production businesses cannot maintain it and have lost the market," Minister Nguyen Hong Dien raised the issue.

The Minister of Industry and Trade said that the limitations of Vietnamese rice are mainly due to the lack of a strategy and a stable, solid development policy in the rice industry, which is still spontaneous.

"State investment in rice production, especially rice for export, is not commensurate with: varieties, science and technology, production and processing processes... Many export enterprises lack professionalism, compete unfairly, cannot maintain the market, cannot consolidate their brands; coordination between levels, sectors and inspection, supervision and handling are not good...", the Minister pointed out.

Therefore, to achieve the goal of multi-value, product diversity, market diversity, and income diversity for rice growers and rice production areas, an effective coordination mechanism is needed between ministries, sectors, localities, associations, and industries in coordinating common activities of the rice industry, in addition to the specialized management of the ministries, which is the National Rice Council.

"Based on the opinions at the workshop, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will absorb and complete the draft to submit to the Government as soon as possible. The two ministries hope to continue receiving comments from ministries, branches and localities. At the same time, the two ministries will assign relevant units to continue researching and closely coordinating so that the National Rice Council can operate effectively," said Minister Nguyen Hong Dien.