Abandoned farmland: [3] Neither farming nor leasing out

According to Mr. Pham The Quang, Head of Phuc Tu Dong Village (Hoan Lao Commune, Quang Tri Province), input and service costs have remained high for an extended period. Meanwhile, rice prices have fallen at times, adversely affecting farmers’ sentiment.

Farmers can earn from just one or two days of hired labor an amount equivalent to the income from cultivating one sao of rice (500 m²/sao). Moreover, most farmers own only a few sao of farmland, making them highly reluctant to lease out or transfer their land to individuals or businesses for land consolidation and large-scale farming.

One day as a construction laborer equals a whole rice crop

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Abandoned farmland: [2] An entire commune skips summer-autumn crop

On the Ong Dong field, managed by Minh Trung Agricultural Cooperative in Ninh Chau Commune, Quang Tri Province, local farmers cultivated about 100 hectares of summer-autumn rice last year. This year, however, they left the rice to regrow naturally, suffering heavy losses as prolonged hot weather hampered the crop's growth. Harvesting costs were even higher than the value of the rice produced.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of Minh Trung Agricultural Cooperative, said that since the beginning of the year, input and service costs have surged. Calculations show that cultivating one sao of rice costs around VND 1.3 million, while the cost per hectare can reach VND 25-26 million. By comparison, production costs for last year's winter-spring crop were only around VND 20 million per hectare.

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Abandoned farmland: [1] Weeds grow green on fertile fields

Mr. Pham The Quang estimates that rice prices at the beginning of this year's winter-spring crop were only VND 5 million/ton. With an average yield of 6 tons/hectare, total revenue amounts to only around VND 30 million/hectare. After deducting the costs of crop care, gapping, rice transportation, and other expenses, the profit is only around VND 4-5 million/hectare. If pest and disease outbreaks occur frequently, costs rise even further, meaning farmers can spend several months cultivating their fields only to break even or incur losses. As a result, farmers are no longer keen on farming their land.

Meanwhile, compared with the winter-spring crop, the summer-autumn crop is even more challenging due to pests, diseases, and rodents damaging rice from sowing through to harvest. Additionally, the risks of natural disasters, drought, and early-season heavy rains and floods caused low yields, at only 4.5-5 tons/hectare, while rice prices remained depressed. Therefore, farmers calculate that cultivation would only result in losses.

Since last year, unskilled labor has become increasingly scarce. Construction contractors have struggled to find bricklayers and construction workers. To secure enough workers and keep construction projects on schedule, they have significantly raised wages.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc's family in Truong Xuan village, Ninh Chau commune, has about 0.25 hectares of farmland along the national highway. After a poor winter-spring crop, he decided not to cultivate the land during the summer-autumn crop. As he also works as a bricklayer, he was hired by a construction contractor for VND 550,000/day. His wife was also hired as a construction laborer, earning VND 400,000/day.

Mr. Quoc calculated that with rice farming, his net income after deducting costs would be only around VND 1 million. "My wife and I can earn in one day what we would make from growing rice for several months. So I leave the fields 'resting' and wait until the winter-spring rice crop to have enough food for the whole year. Everyone in the village has gone to work as construction laborers. No one is really interested in farming anymore," Mr. Quoc explained.

Abandoning rather than leasing out

According to many farmers, the trend of growing only one rice crop a year is gradually spreading. Most households have only 0.2-0.3 hectares of farmland. Therefore, even in a good harvest year with favorable rice prices, the profits are still modest. By contrast, without farming, they have time to take on other jobs that offer much higher incomes.

Mr. Quoc shared, "The fields are small and fragmented, so few people are willing to invest much in them. Farmers also do not want to lease out their fields because they would not receive much money from the rent. Most people only want to grow one crop, partly to affirm their ownership, and do not want to share it with anyone else."

Mr. Pham The Quang, Head of Phuc Tu Dong Village, noted that people only want to grow the winter-spring crop to have enough food for their needs, without cultivating the summer-autumn crop. Besides, there is also a general reluctance to let anyone else cultivate their farmland.

During last year's summer-autumn crop, Minh Trung Agricultural Cooperative linked with a company to cultivate the Ong Dong field. Despite facing numerous difficulties, including flooding and the need to re-sow the crop for a second time, it was the first time the field had been cultivated during the summer-autumn crop, and the results were fairly positive, raising hopes for a new production direction. However, this year, local farmers decided not to continue with summer-autumn production, instead leaving the fields for ratoon rice.

Looking at large fields with adequate road access, irrigation systems, and other infrastructure needed to grow two rice crops a year, yet which are now mostly cultivated only once annually, agricultural expert Tran Tuan is deeply concerned. "If timely solutions are not introduced, the shift from two-crop fields to one-crop ones, with the remaining land left uncultivated, will become a serious problem for agricultural production," Mr. Tuan warned.

According to Mr. Tuan, changing farmers' mindset so that they are willing to enter into linkages or lease out their land, thereby enabling individuals and businesses to consolidate farmland and invest in production, requires a consistent policy on agricultural land use. In other words, if landowners do not use their land for its intended purpose, they should be required to let others cultivate it rather than simply holding on to the land while leaving it uncultivated.

The mindset of holding on to farmland without cultivating it or leasing it out remains deeply entrenched among farmers. As a result, even though dozens of hectares of the fertile Phuc Tu Dong fields are left uncultivated during the summer-autumn crop, local farmers show little enthusiasm when businesses express interest in leasing the land for rice production. Instead, they simply shake their heads and leave the fields fallow until the next winter-spring crop.

$1 = VND 26,270 - Source: Vietcombank.