Page 34 - Regional_rice_report_with_full_bookmarks

PROJECT “NETWORK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THINK-TAKS FOR COUNTRIES IN MEKONG-SUB REGION” (NARDT)

Table 11: Rice households in Viet Nam in 2020

Structure by production scale (%)
Total Average rice
number land size 2 ha
of rice (ha per rice Total < 0.2 0.2- 0.5-< and
household household) ha <0.5 ha 2 ha over

WHOLE COUNTRY 7,976,267 0.34 100 57.3 27.86 12.37 2.47

Red River Delta 2,310,702 0.16 100 75.57 21.87 2.4 0.16
Northern midlands 1,846,036 0.20 100 63.64 28.44 7.61 0.31
and mountain areas
North Central and
Central coastal 2,322,926 0.22 100 58.91 32.45 8.08 0.56
areas
Central Highlands 405,188 0.34 100 43.5 39.15 15.82 1.53
Southeast 88,851 0.80 100 9.13 33.83 48.06 8.98

Mekong River Delta 1,002,565 1.24 100 5.81 26.41 51.16 16.62

Source: Agrocencus 2021, GSO – Vietnam.
The situation of land fragmentation in production also occurs in the remaining
countries. In Cambodia, the cultivation area is not large, but with the number of
households of about 3 million, the average size ranges from 1-3 ha. In Lao PDR has
about 450 thousand rice-growing households , with an average size of about 2 ha.
6
Compared to neighboring Thailand with an area of about 11 million ha and 3.7 million
farmers, its average scale per farmer is higher, about 3 ha.

Due to small land size and weaknesses in horizontal and vertical linkages among
stakeholders in rice value chain, most small farmers face difficulties in production and
have low economic efficiency. Rice farmers rely heavily on external input agents and
service (machinery) suppliers for prices. Most small farmers cannot dry and store rice,
so they must sell their rice immediately after harvesting when the price of fresh paddy
rice is usually the lowest of the year. On the other hand, in trade transactions, farmers
have a weak capacity to negotiate prices.

The income of small farmers is usually unstable and highly influenced by
changes in input and output prices. Along with increasing input prices, in general,
their benefits tend to decrease. Therefore, it is an uphill task for farmers to invest
to expand production and apply technological advances, mechanization. Currently,
the mechanism of information sharing on prices, benefits, and market among actors
in the value chain is very limited. The prices information in the chain is governed
by middlemen, traders, and enterprises. While the role of cooperatives and farmer
groups is still weak in improving benefits of farmers. Therefore, in the value chain, rice
farmers are usually the most vulnerable objects in the context of unexpected risks.

6 Country Report of research team of Lao PDR

33