Vietnam ‘herbal rice’ sells like hot cakes at hefty price in Europe Nguyen Anh Dung, director of the Dinh An farming cooperative, holds 'Ngoc do huong dua' rice samples in this photo. Tuoi Tre ‘Herbal rice,’ a grain variety grown in Vietnam that has a high nutrition content, has become the most sought after in the European market despite its expensive price. The two most favorite rice species are Ngoc do huong dua (pineapple-flavored red pearl rice) and Cam Cai Lay (dark violet or black fragrant rice grown in Cai Lay District in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang). The supply of the grains fails to meet the demand of foreign consumers and businesspeople even come directly to rice farm owners to place orders. The current price is way higher than that of Jasmine rice, Vietnam’s best fragrant white rice available in the market, and is estimated to rise in the coming time due to low supply and high demand. Vietnamese rice exporters have considered ‘herbal rice’ a ‘gold mine’ and also come to rice farm owners to sign exclusive contracts to buy out the grain. US$800 per metric ton Late September this year, the Dinh An farming cooperative in Lap Vo District of Dong Thap Province, located in the Mekong Delta, harvested two hectares of Ngoc do huong dua rice. Docimexco, a local rice exporter, bought all of the rice freshly cut from the field at VND7,000 (around 30 U.S. cents) a kilogram. The rates for Jasmine rice and the common IR-504 grain are VND5,200 and VND4,200 per kg, respectively. Docimexco even signed an agreement to promise to purchase all theNgoc do huong dua rice cultivated on 23 hectares of the coming autumn-spring crops of the cooperative. Nguyen Anh Dung, director of the Dinh An cooperative, said his farmers can earn a profit of VND20 million ($890) per hectare with that price. Profit for growing the IR-504 seed is no more than VND8 million ($360) a hectare. Tran Quoc Nam, general director of Docimexco, revealed he had been committed to buying out the output of the cooperative because his clients from France, the UK, Italy, and Turkey already promised to purchase all his yields. “We closed a deal to provide them with Ngoc do huong dua at $750-800 a metric ton,” Nam said. “The export price of Jasmine rice in Europe is just $530 a metric ton,” Nam said. Ngoc do huong dua becomes a favorite rice variety in foreign markets because it is a highly nutritious species only found in Vietnam, he said, adding that it is therefore called ‘herbal rice.’ Nam divulged that he has signed exclusive contracts with Vietnamese farmers to grow Ngoc do huong dua on about 120 hectares of land and purchase all of the grains upon harvest. A special fragrance can be smelt when cooking and eating Ngoc do huong dua, Dung, the director of the Dinh An cooperative, explained. He revealed that several businesspeople from the UK found their way to the farms of Dinh An to learn about the planting process and suggested buying out the grains. In Vietnam, Ngoc do huong dua rice has been displayed and sold at some resorts for VND38,000 ($1.7) a kilogram, almost triple the rates of other fragrant rice varieties. High nutrition Ngoc do huong dua contains much higher nutrition value than other kinds of rice. An analysis carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta and Can Tho University showed that every 100 grams of the rice contain 73mg of calcium, 9.84mg of iron, 46.6mg of vitamin E, and other contents of vitamin B1, B2, and C. In addition, 100 grams of the grain include 8.75 percent of protein and 1.85 percent of glucose. Scientists say that the nutrition value of Ngoc do huong dua is much higher than other kinds of rice, and it is good for the elderly and patients of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Other ‘herbal rice’ species Doctor Le Huu Hai, vice president of Tien Giang University in the Mekong Delta, and his associates have created a special rice species named Cam Cai Lay. An analysis showed that the rice contains far higher nutrition value than Jasmine rice does. A kilogram of Cam Cai Lay rice contains 26.4mg of iron, which is over 80 percent higher than white Jasmine rice and equals the concentration of iron in 0.9kg of beef. What is more, a kilogram of Cam Cai Lay has 137mg of calcium, three-fold that in Jasmine. Cam Cai Lay has different minerals and vitamin B1, B2 and B5 that are not found in normal rice. Since 2011, all the output of the Cam Cai Lay rice grown by the My Thanh Nam farming cooperative has been bought out by the local ADC farming company at VND11,000-13,000 (50-60 U.S. cents) a kilogram, double the price of normal rice. Farmers earn a profit of VND25-30 million ($1,100-1,300) per crop on a hectare of Cam Cai Lay, three or four times higher than normal varieties. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has for long encouraged the cultivation of various ‘herbal rice’ species. TUOI TRE NEWS