HCMC – Vietnam has exported another 1,000 tons of low-emission rice to Europe and Australia at prices exceeding US$1,000 per ton, marking a notable achievement in low-emission rice production in the Mekong Delta region.
Speaking to The Saigon Times on the sidelines of a workshop held in Can Tho on May 13, Pham Thai Binh, chairman of Trung An High Tech Farming JSC, said that after entering the Japanese market, the company had exported an additional 1,000 tons of Vietnam’s low-emission green rice to Europe and Australia, with 500 tons shipped to each market.
Rice exported under Vietnam’s low-emission green rice label fetched prices of more than US$1,000 per ton in both markets, he added.
He said that importers continue to place top priority on rice quality and safe production standards, while low-emission farming serves as an added-environmental attribute increasingly recognized by overseas buyers.
At the workshop, Le Thanh Tung of the Vietnam Rice Industry Association (Vietrisa), which oversees certification of the low-emission green rice label, said the association is currently providing certification free of charge to member companies that comply with production standards under the Government’s one million hectare rice program and achieve the required assessment scores.
Tung said Vietrisa would only consider charging certification fees once certified rice output reaches 500,000 tons or exports of rice carrying the low-emission green rice label hit one million tons.
The Vietrisa vice chairman said the association, together with the International Rice Research Institute, had developed an assessment toolkit to help farmers and businesses comply with requirements for certification under Vietnam’s low-emission green rice program.
The evaluation system is based on a scoring framework measuring compliance across multiple farming practices, including pre-season water management, mechanized land preparation, seed selection, seeding density, mechanized sowing, fertilizer application, mid-season water management, pest control, harvesting, and straw management.
