Vietnam plans rice branding initiative
Business Desk
banglanews24.com
DHAKA: Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Viet Nam Food Association want to develop an internationally recognised brand for Vietnamese rice by choosing and cultivating several high quality varieties.
Towards this, they are planning a project that will provide several incentives for farmers to cultivate these varieties, including offering 100 per cent insurance coverage for their rice fields, according to a report carried by the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper.
Businesses participating in the project will also receive support from the Government in terms of access to capital and advanced technology, the report said.
It cited Bui Ba Bong, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, as saying these were among measures that would help industrialise the rice production value chain in the country and create a national brand.
Along with brand development, research must be carried out into developing new, high quality varieties of rice, said Duong Van Chin, deputy director of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Rice Research Institute.
More than 200 rice varieties have been created and recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development so far, Chin said.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked farmers around the country to strictly follow its instructions on what rice varieties to grow in the summer-autumn crop to avoid a repeat of the winter-spring crop when a large proportion of low-quality varieties was grown.
Nguyen Tri Ngoc, the head of the ministry’s Plant Cultivation Department, said low-quantity strains like IR50404 must be planted on less than 20 per cent of the total area.
The ministry has instructed localities that grew large quantities of the admittedly high-yield IR 50404 to switch to high-quality varieties, he said.
It accounted for 27.6 per cent of the last crop in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, known as the country`s rice granary.
In Dong Thap Province the number was 52 per cent.
BDST: 1650 HRS, May 12, 2012
Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor