Farmers in Mekong Delta facing mounting challenges NNVN, NLD, dtinews.vn   Many farmers in the Mekong Delta are facing amounting challenges and losses from growing rice as they are not properly protected and supported by the government's policies. Farmers in Mekong Delta region harvesting their Summer-Autumn Crop 2013 Even though rice plays an important role in Vietnam’s economy, farmers have continued to incur loss whether they have good or bad harvests for recent years. Over the past three years, Vietnam’s rice export prices have continued to fall by around VND1,000 per kilo, causing losses to both rice exporters and farmers. The World Bank’s research in 2011 and Oxfarm’s research in 2012 showed that incomes of rice growers in Vietnam were rather low. Farmer households in the Mekong Delta region earn an average of only VND535,000 (USD25.43) per person per month, the reports said. “Farmers’ incomes heavily depend on rice export prices. Export price falls mean further losses for rice growers,” said Dr. Dang Kim Son, Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD). Nguyen Dinh Bich, a rice expert said, “Statistics on rice exports showed a paradox that Vietnam rushes to sell rice amid export price falls but keeps rice in store upon price hikes. This is a result of improper rice export policies, which have caused losses for both farmers and rice exporters. The country’s economy obviously benefit nothing either.” Bich emphasised the necessity to reconsider rice export policies and strategies. “Several rice policies are inadequate as they have just ensured food security and market stability instead of paying proper attention to improving rice export efficiency. Several policies still have yet to concentrate on farmers as farmers don’t benefit from 30% of rice revenues as required by the government,” Dr. Nguyen Cong Thang, from IPSARD said. The current rice price mechanism is inadequate as well because farmers can’t directly sell their rice to rice exporters but through traders as mediators. “Areas specialised for rice production should be linked together to call for investment and ensure rice quality. However, such model has yet to receive proper attention and support from the government,” Thang noted. As the result, many families are discouraging their children from doing farm work. Huynh Kim Hai, from Dong Thap Province, has cultivated in eight hectares of rice since 1990. His six-member family earned a combined VND52.8 million (USD2,509) from two harvests of this year. This means a per capital income of VND733,000 (USD34.84) per month. “Since 2008, farmers’ incomes have continued to fall due to falling rice prices and rising prices of fertilizer and pesticides. Almost all farmers have to get bank loans for their rice cultivation. My family borrowed VND100 million (USD4,753) at an interest rate of 1% for this crop.” Hai said. Currently, the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) has the monopoly to define rice buying prices for farmers. This policy has helped ensure stability in the market but has brought much of profits for VFA instead of farmers, he said. “VFA benefited from the disparity of rice prices applied for farmers and rice export prices, so they have tried to buy rice from farmers at as low prices as possible. They don’t pay proper attention to store investment and rice trademark development either,” he commented. He proposed that in order to ensure profits for farmers it’s necessary to increase rice export prices and lower fertilizer and pesticides prices. “If my children need capital to set up their own business I’ll sell my rice field. As I have no other choice I won’t lease my field until I can’t do farm work anymore,” he added.