Seasonal organic rice revival in Mekong Delta
The figure was forecast to increase 9% in the period 2019-2025 and reach US$2.78 billion by 2025. In Vietnam, seasonal organic rice, which has been seemingly extinct after some time, is gradually reviving and proving its outstanding value to farmers and the ecology.
In 2020, the Mekong Delta had over 1,400 hectares of rice in the provinces of Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Kien Giang and Vinh Long which were certified up to the international organic standards (USDA/EU/JAS—U.S. Department of Agriculture/European Union/Japanese Agricultural Standards). Ca Mau had the largest area of organic rice-shrimp production. Meanwhile, the seasonal rice, the kind of seasonal floating rice grown without chemicals likely to be converted to organic certified rice, has begun to revive on the delta soil.
Before the short-term high-yield shennong rice was introduced into the Mekong Delta in 1964, the seasonal rice was cultivated in most rice farmland in the delta. In deep flooded areas like An Giang, Dong Thap, Tien Giang and the upstream districts of Long An Province, the seasonal floating rice was grown in more than half a million hectares of land. Before 1975, An Giang Province had over 250,000 hectares of seasonal floating rice. In low flooded areas like the downstream of An Giang, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Long An and Can Tho, low flooded rice was grown, while in several coastal provinces like Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau, mid-season rice was cultivated.
