Sóc Trăng increases value of rice by improving quality

Farmers harvest rice in Sóc Trăng Province. VNA/VNS Photo

SÓC TRĂNG – Sóc Trăng Province hopes to achieve a rice output of 2.13 million tonnes this year, or 7 per cent above the plan.

Specialty and high-quality varieties should account for 93.58 per cent s against the target of 93.13 per cent.

For all this, the agricultural sector is focusing on directing sowing of the summer-autumn rice crop, especially in localities affected by saltwater intrusion such as Trần Đề and Long Phú, adopting solutions for rice care, protecting the summer-autumn crop from saltwater intrusion, and developing seeding plans for the 2024-25 winter-spring crop starting in January 2025.

The province will continue to restructure production seasons in each region based on local conditions, reduce cultivation to three or two rice crops a year in areas with difficult conditions.

It will also implement the province’s role in a sustainable development project of one million hectares specialising in high-quality, low-emissions rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta region by 2030.

Sóc Trăng will gradually expand its high-quality rice growing areas, reaching ​​72,000 hectares by 2030.

Vương Quốc Nam, deputy chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, said these high-quality rice areas will be in seven districts, Ngã Năm Town and Sóc Trăng City.

The province will organise training for households, cooperatives and businesses in the use of technology and digital transformation in the agricultural sector.

It will also invest in upgrading infrastructure in areas specialising in high-quality rice.

To ensure high-quality rice output, it will organise trade fairs and create links between households and cooperatives and rice processing businesses.

Huỳnh Ngọc Nhã, director of the province’s agriculture department, said in the first half of this year 331,720 hectares of rice were planted, marginally up from a year earlier.

Farmers have harvested 192,295 ha to produce 1.33 million tonnes, an increase of 7.15 per cent. High-quality and specialty varieties accounted for 94 per cent, including ST rice varieties (ST24, ST25), Tài Nguyên and Đài Thơm.

Rice export prices recently have been high compared to last year, increasing from VNĐ1,300 – 2,500 per kilogramme to VNĐ 7,300-8,000.

In the first half of 2024 Sóc Trăng Province’s rice exports topped US$325 million, a 56.68 per cent increase from the same period last year and the highest value ever. – VNS