PURPLE RICE IN FULL BLOOM ON SALINE-BORDER-FRESH WATER AREAS OF BAC LIEU

Over VND100 million/ha earned from each intercrop

Purple rice variety is herbal rice with high nutritional content. It contains multi-vitamins and minerals very good for human health. Purple rice grain is currently a favorite product in many markets.

Long Hai Agricultural Service Cooperative in Long Hai hamlet, Phuoc Long Town, Bac Lieu Province’s Phuoc Long District currently has 20 members working on a total area of more than 145 hectares, mainly for purple rice growing combined with shrimp, crab, and fish breeding. Phuoc Long District is located in a saline-border-fresh water area, so it is very convenient for shrimp farming and rice cultivation.

According to Mr. Le Van Liem, Director of the Cooperative, purple rice has three great advantages. First is its good tolerance of salt, drought, and very dry weather. The second is it's less attacked by pests and diseases, and the third is its high productivity and stable prices.

“In terms of output, the Cooperative has cooperated with several enterprises in Soc Trang and Tien Giang Provinces to annually invest in seeds, fertilizers and drugs. When the rice is ripe, they will buy it at market prices. Currently, the Cooperative members are intercropping rice with shrimp and crab breeding. Each crop can bring a total income of over VND100 million/ha,” said Liem.

As one of the members of Long Hai Agricultural Service Cooperative, Mr. Nguyen Van Chung has been growing purple rice on 3ha of shrimp land for the past three years. With his farming experience, Chung assessed that the purple rice variety is easy to grow. It develops fast and is infected with just a few pests and diseases, and has a good yield. The production cost is also not too high.

The farmer said with 3ha of purple rice, he only needs to use between 35-40kg of fertilizers and two times of pesticide spraying for each crop. Following the recommendations of Long Hai Agricultural Service Cooperative and local agricultural authorities, farmers are now gradually turning to use organic fertilizers.

“The only disadvantage of this rice variety is that it is prone to bacterial infections. But this problem is now very easy to handle, just by spraying once with a disinfectant," said Chung.

“Currently, the output consuming has been covered 100% by the cooperative in association with business enterprises. This year our purple rice is purchased for VND5,900/kg. With such a stable price, farmers can be assured to maintain their cultivation," he added.

Expanding 15,000 ha of rice-shrimp production

According to statistics of Phuoc Long District’s Agriculture Office, in 2021, the locality will deploy aquaculture production on an area of over 22,000 ha, of which approximately 14,000 ha for implementing the rice-shrimp model. Recently, the district has been approved by Bac Lieu Province to invest in expanding the rice area on shrimp land to 15,000 ha.

Speaking with Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Hong Men, Head of Agriculture Office of Phuoc Long District, said: “The rice-shrimp model is well adapting to climate change so it is very suitable for deploy in the saline-border-fresh areas. In recent years, the District’s Agriculture Office has encouraged farmers to expand the model to many other areas. Up to now, it has stably implemented the rice-shrimp model on over 11,000 ha of land.”

Also according to the agricultural official, over the years, Phuoc Long District has coordinated with Bac Lieu Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to deploy the model of growing new rice varieties on shrimp farms. Specifically, Bac Lieu Province has invested in supporting the cultivation of ST24 and ST25 rice varieties on shrimp farming land with 1,500 ha in 2020 and 3,000 ha in 2021.

In addition, cooperatives and farmer groups in the area have also strengthened coordination with rice business enterprises to bring new varieties such as purple rice into cultivation on shrimp land. With a growing area of about 100 ha, purple rice is currently developing well.

The agricultural production in Phuoc Long District now is still highly dependant on the weather. Although areas of the rice-shrimp model is expected to expand to 15,000 ha, only 12,000 ha can stabilize production.

The Phuoc Long District Agriculture Office has proposed Bac Lieu Province as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to invest and support the work of supplying fresh water to the fields so that to ensure production in areas of structural conversion, especially in the rice-shrimp production area.

“The 2019-2020 salt drought was very severe. However, after Ninh Quoi sluice was put into operation, the project has timely supplied adequate fresh water to prevent salinity and helped farmers be proactive in preparing water sources for production", said Mr. Nguyen Hong Men, Head of the Agriculture  in Phuoc Long District, Bac Lieu Province.