Agriculture - Rural areas

How is the most expensive rice in Hai Duong produced?

PV January 16, 2025 11:00

Ensuring cleanliness, careful production process, packaging…, rice from the sandbank area of ​​Tu Ky district is the most expensive rice in Hai Duong.

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Rice grown in the sandworm and crab fields of Tu Ky district is considered the most expensive in Hai Duong.

Catching rice worms by hand

Taking advantage of the brackish water resources along the Thai Binh River, people in An Thanh, Quang Trung, Chi Minh, Nguyen Giap, Binh Lang, and Ha Thanh communes have reclaimed the land for exploiting sandworms. During the exploitation process, to make the soil loose and create a food source for sandworms, people have planted rice in the fields. Rice from the sandworm area in Tu Ky district is considered the most expensive rice in Hai Duong because of its small yield, cleanliness, and meticulous production process.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, Director of New Generation Agriculture Joint Stock Company (An Thanh commune), the unit that coordinates with farmers to produce ST 25 rice, said that from selecting seeds, planting rice, harvesting, preliminary processing... all follow standards. When planting ST 25, people buy seeds from the seed production unit to limit impurities and degeneration. During the care process, no pesticides are used to control pests or weeds, but everything is done manually. After 8-10 hours of harvesting, the rice will be put in a dryer to dry evenly, retain nutrients and prevent the rice grains from breaking when milled.

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Rice farmers in An Thanh commune's sandbank weed by hand (photo provided by the facility)

Because no pesticides are used and the rice is grown in riverbank areas, the rice is often mixed with small snails and has many black, damaged grains. After milling, the company hires people to pick out each damaged grain and impurities. The rice is bagged and vacuum-sealed. "Because of such a meticulous and careful production process, ST 25 rice has a fairly high selling price, 65,000 VND/kg. Each year the company has about 40 tons of rice but it is not enough to meet consumer demand," said Mr. Tuan.

Rice grown in the mudflat area is not very productive, and the milled rice does not yield as much as many other types of rice. According to Mr. Nguyen Thien Tuan in Trai Vuc village (Chi Minh commune), ST 25 rice only yields more than 1 quintal/sao, the grains are small, so it takes 2 kg of rice to get 1 kg of rice, while other types of rice require 2 kg of rice to get 1.3 kg of rice. This is also the reason why ST 25 rice has a high selling price.

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Some rice areas also have to be harvested manually.

In the rươi area of ​​Quang Trung commune, people choose to grow yellow sticky rice. Mr. Dang Quang Anh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quang Trung commune, said: "To grow rice, people have to spray pesticides several times to kill pests and weeds, while rice grown in the rươi area is only weeded manually and worms are caught by hand, so the yield is not high. Fertilizing, harvesting, processing, and packaging are more labor-intensive, so the selling price is high. Quang Trung yellow sticky rice is being sold wholesale at 40,000 VND/kg and retail at 60,000 VND/kg," said Mr. Anh.

At the workshop "Developing organic agricultural production models associated with ecotourism in Hai Duong province" organized by the Union of Science and Technology Associations in early December 2024, Ms. Luong Thi Kiem, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, assessed that rice grown in Tu Ky's sandbank area has delicious, soft, sticky, fragrant, clean quality and has the highest selling price in Hai Duong at present.

Customer favorite

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Rice is harvested right in the field.

Despite the high price, rice from the sandbank is popular with consumers. Ms. Pham Thi Hoa in An Dinh village (An Thanh) said: "The rice is for eating or for relatives to order or as gifts, so it is rarely sold outside. Every year, many people ask for it, but the quantity is limited and cannot meet the demand."

The advantage of rice from the sandbank area is that it is clean, so consumers can feel secure when using it. Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong in Tan Binh Ward (Hai Duong City) is from An Thanh Commune. Her family often buys rice from people in the sandbank area to eat because they are assured of the quality. Ms. Huong said: "Every year, I ask my acquaintances to buy as much rice as possible. Although the price is quite high, in return the rice is clean, so I feel secure."

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Mr. Nguyen Thien Tuan in Chi Minh commune hired people to remove each damaged rice grain (photo provided by the facility)

According to statistics, Tu Ky district has over 550 hectares of organic agricultural production combined with exploitation and conservation of natural crab worms. In 2022, the agricultural production area combined with exploitation of crab worms and crabs with a scale of 137 hectares in An Thanh commune was certified to meet Vietnam's organic agricultural standards. Although the organic rice yield is from 27-33 quintals/ha, people still sell at high prices to compensate for costs and labor.

In the coming time, Tu Ky district will continue to expand the area of ​​​​crayfish farming combined with organic rice cultivation to create clean agricultural products, typical of the locality, affirming the value of Tu Ky's agricultural products on the agricultural map of the province.

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How is the most expensive rice in Hai Duong produced?