A rice harvest worth $1.35 in profit: Harsh reality for a Central Highlands farmer

Recently, a post by Vo Van Duc, 37, from Tay Hoa Commune in Dak Lak, detailing his family's expenses and harvest from two rice plots, drew widespread attention on social media.

Every rice season is a gamble on weather and prices

According to Duc, the total cost of the rice crop was about VND2.215 million ($85.44), covering land preparation, fertilizer, pesticides, planting and harvesting.

Heavy rains caused the rice to fall and flooded parts of the fields, leaving him with a harvest of only about 450 kg. 

Because the rice was wet, traders paid just VND5,000 ($0.19) per kg, bringing in about VND2.25 million ($86.79).

After deducting the costs, his family was left with a profit of just VND35,000 ($1.35) for the entire crop, equivalent to around VND388 ($0.01) a day over three months.

Duc’s post later received more than 11,000 likes, nearly 2,000 comments and about 2.5 million views.

Duc said he was surprised by the attention his post received. He stressed that the figures reflected the actual expenses incurred while his family farmed the two rice plots, each generally equivalent to 500 square meters in central Vietnam.

“These are the costs I had to pay from preparing the land and planting to tending the crop and harvesting. I haven’t even included the cost of the rice seeds,” Duc said.

The latest crop was particularly difficult because of prolonged heavy rain, he said, while lower yields and selling prices further reduced his earnings.

In years with favorable weather, each of my rice plots can produce about 300 kg of dry rice. At prices of around VND6,000-6,400 ($0.23-$0.25) per kg, farmers can still earn some income after covering their costs.

However, Duc said rice farming currently offers little profit. His family continues to farm because they already have the land, allowing them to grow rice for household consumption and sell some when prices are favorable.

“Rice farming doesn’t bring in much profit, but we have the land, so we keep doing it. We have rice to eat and earn a little extra income. I also take on other jobs to make ends meet,” Duc said.

His story prompted many people online to express sympathy for farmers, for whom each crop can be a gamble on both the weather and rice prices.

2,300 hectares of rice in Dak Lak ravaged by floods

Similarly, many rice farmers in communes and wards across eastern Dak Lak suffered heavy losses after prolonged heavy rains.

Nguyen Huu Duong, 66, a farmer in Phu Huu Village, Hoa Thinh Commune, farms about 1.8 'mau' (18,000 square meters) of rice fields.

He said fallen and waterlogged rice now fetches only about VND1,500 ($0.06) per kg, while standing rice can sell for VND4,000-5,200 ($0.15-$0.20) per kg.

"Fallen, waterlogged rice turns black. If it stays submerged for too long, it starts to sprout and becomes even harder to sell. On top of that, fallen rice has to be harvested by hand because machines struggle to gather it, leaving some behind and picking up mud along with the rice," Duong said.

According to farmers in Hoa My Commune, harvesting costs have also risen for flattened rice fields. 

Hiring a combine harvester normally costs VND130,000-140,000 ($5.01-$5.40) per 500 square meters, but rises to VND170,000-200,000 ($6.55-$7.71) for flattened rice. 

With transportation costs added, farmers’ remaining income is further squeezed.

Ngo Van Hieu, director of Hoa My Dong Agricultural Cooperative in Hoa My Commune, said that after the heavy rains, the cooperative mobilized all available personnel to work with farmers to clear drainage channels at critical points and reduce flooding.

In areas that had remained flooded for several days, the cooperative urged farmers to harvest as soon as possible to minimize losses, he said.