In recent years, the Mekong River Delta region has spared no effort to attract investment in the field of rice production. Numerous international organisations and foreign investors have also been upsizing the production model.

However, to date these have just been pilot programmes and have had no real world impact on rice production in Vietnam.

Scientists and managers are now pondering alternative approaches to improve rice growers’ living conditions, build a national rice brand name and create added value for Vietnamese rice.

On a positive note, Vietnamese rice was exported to 135 nations around the globe in 2014 including the demanding markets of the US, EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

However, the Asian market accounts for the lion’s share, 77%, of exports. Despite huge export volume, the quality and competitive edge of Vietnamese rice remain low, which is not appealing to foreign investors.

Huynh The Nang, Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood) general director said Vietnamese rice cannot penetrate into the high-end markets due to lack of high-quality rice varieties, high post-harvest losses and poor regional connectivity, as well as a lack of collaboration between the government, scientists, businesses and farmers.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Sanh, Director of the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute in turn said rice growers remain poor as the price of rice is insufficient to offset the rising production costs, leading to low earnings.

Sanh affirmed that Vietnam should make radical reforms to improve competitive capacity and reduce product costs for its rice. He stressed the need to reform activities of cooperatives in the Mekong River Delta to connect to businesses effectively.

For his part, Dr Le Van Banh, head of the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute underscored the need to study the production value chain and seek solutions for improving the value chain in terms of production, post-harvest treatment, quality, infrastructure and distribution and gradually develop the brand names for Vietnamese rice.

To ensure the national food security, the State should devise proper policies in the coming time to help rice growers pay attention to their work. It is inevitable that farmers will turn their back to rice if they cannot earn enough income, he said.

On a more positive note, in 2014 a pilot programme in the Mekong Delta for model paddy fields was successful in generating higher earnings for farmers and creating higher value for Vietnamese rice, which could lead to production of high quality rice in vast quantities in the future.