Vinafood 2 invests in large-scale fragrant rice fields

A rice harvester is at work on a field in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang. Vinafood 2 will be growing fragrant rice for export on large-scale fields - PHOTO: TTXVN

Vinafood 2 general director Huynh The Nang told the Daily that the corporation will start its large-scale field project to produce fragrant rice and normal-grade grains from the 2014-2015 winter-spring rice crop.

Vu Quang Canh, deputy head of the agricultural product department at Vinafood 2, said the State-owned firm would also gradually switch to buying unprocessed rice to better control the quality of input material.

Canh said development of a production chain and large-scale fields are important steps for Vinafood 2 to create stable and quality rice supply and realize its export target.

In the short term, Vinafood 2 will look for government-to-government contracts and more importers.

Nang said to ensure high quality, Vinafood 2 has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute on recovering and developing paddy seeds including ST20 and Jasmine that help it produce quality rice and meet the demand of importing markets.

Nang said the MOU is vital for the corporation to realize its goal because rice only has consistent quality when at least 80-90% of the field areas are grown by high-quality seeds.

Vinafood 2 will begin its first large-scale field in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.

For fragrant rice exports, Vinafood 2 will sell high-quality rice with clear origins and avoid competing directly with the products of the same quality like Basmati of India and Homali of Thailand.

Vinafood 2 plans to export a ton of its fragrant rice at around US$550-600, which is much lower than US$950-1,200 per ton of high-quality rice offered by Thailand and India.

For normal rice, Vinafood 2 will continue focusing on government-to-government contracts in the markets which do not require strict criteria for quality such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.