Productivity decline due to adverse weather

Right from the beginning of the season, the agricultural sector has advised farmers to follow the crop calendar, sow simultaneously, apply technical solutions such as the "3 reductions, 3 increases" model, "1 must, 5 reductions", sustainable farming, IPHM, use of certified seeds, strengthen pest and disease prevention and natural disasters... Thanks to that, the quality of rice this season is guaranteed. However, unfavorable weather during the earing, flowering, and poor grain-to-rice stages, meanwhile, hot weather combined with irregular rains caused poor rice growth, significantly reducing productivity.

Farmers harvest summer-autumn rice 2025.

Farmers harvest summer-autumn rice 2025.

According to local farmers, the yield of this year's summer-autumn crop is only 25-35 bushels/cong, down 10-15 bushels/cong compared to the same period last year. Having just finished harvesting 20 hectares of summer-autumn rice of the OM545 variety, Ms. Vo Thi Thu, Ninh Thuan hamlet, Ninh Quoi commune, said: "This crop's yield is about 30 bushels/cong. I sold it for 5,700 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, I still made a profit of about 1 million VND/cong. The high cost of fertilizers and pesticides has led to low profits."

Farmers shoulder the cost

Compared to the previous summer-autumn crop, the current rice price has decreased by 500-1,000 VND/kg. Specifically, traders buy OM5451 for 5,500-5,700 VND/kg; OM18 for about 5,800-6,200 VND/kg; ST 25 for 7,800-8,000 VND/kg. With this price, farmers only earn about 1-1.5 million VND/cong, a decrease of 1.5-2 million VND/cong compared to the previous crop.

Meanwhile, production costs continue to increase by 10-20%, especially the price of fertilizers, pesticides, rice seeds and labor costs. On average, the cost per hectare of rice ranges from 2.8-3.5 million VND. Therefore, many households have no profit, or insignificant profit.

Mr. Le Minh Chau, a farmer in Ninh Thuan hamlet, shared: “Productivity has decreased by about 20% due to erratic weather. Rice prices have dropped by another 800-1,000 VND/kg, while agricultural material prices are increasing day by day, so farmers make very little profit, many households only break even.”

Currently, taking advantage of the favorable weather, Ninh Quoi farmers are urgently harvesting rice to avoid damage caused by storms forecast to appear in July.

For summer-autumn rice fields in the flowering stage, the agricultural sector recommends that farmers regularly visit the fields and proactively prevent pests and diseases such as brown planthoppers, blast, and grain rot to ensure end-of-season yield.

Need to support output and stabilize material prices

This year’s early summer-autumn rice crop continues to present challenges in agricultural production, as farmers have to bear both rising costs and unstable output. The unstable price of rice while input costs are constantly escalating is no longer a new phenomenon, but each time the harvest season comes, the problem of “good harvest - low price” still has no satisfactory solution for rice growers.

In the long term, to ensure sustainable income for farmers, the agricultural sector needs to promote production-consumption linkages, replicate new cooperative models, and build large fields, thereby helping farmers to have their products purchased at stable prices. At the same time, there needs to be a policy to control and stabilize agricultural material prices, avoiding the situation of free price increases that cause double losses for producers. In addition, the application of science and technology in production such as new high-yield varieties, saving fertilizers and pesticides, and smart farming techniques also need to be strongly promoted to reduce input costs and increase rice productivity and quality.

Huyen Trang

Source: https://baocamau.vn/nong-dan-lai-thap-vu-lua-he-thu-a120745.html