Le Van Banh, former director of the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute Rice prices have plunged since late 2018. Could you share the reasons? The annual production output of rice in the Mekong Delta is estimated at 10-11 million tonnes. In the early part of the year, domestic rice firms had no orders from exporters and foreign customers, and therefore did not buy from farmers. This led farmers to accept lower prices. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently asked the Ministry of Finance to provide guidance for domestic rice businesses to buy in advance 200,000 tonnes of rice and 80,000 tonnes of paddy. Do you think this will help increase rice prices in the Mekong Delta? I think this is just a Band-Aid solution that will help prevent rice prices from falling further but cannot push them up. Rice businesses will buy from farmers only when they can sell. What do you think of the claim that China has created difficulties to hinder Vietnamese rice exports? In fact, China did not … [Read more...] about Rice farmers face stagnant sales, lower prices
Mekong delta band
BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 22/2
Can Tho in dire need of international shipping routes A vessel heads for Tan Cang-Cai Cui Port in Can Tho City Although the Government has allowed Can Tho City to expand its logistics center to 242 hectares from the current 75 hectares, the center cannot develop without international shipping routes allowing the city to directly ship goods abroad, said Nguyen Minh Toai, director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade. At a seminar on development of Can Tho City’s logistics network by 2020, with a vision to 2030, in the city today, February 20, Toai said that Can Tho needs to launch shipping routes through Quan Chanh Bo Canal and Dinh An Estuary to develop a modern logistics center in the city. It costs US$10 to transport each container of goods from Can Tho to Cat Lai Port in HCMC or to Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, he said, and the cost is even higher if shipping containers are carried further away. If goods are directly shipped from the … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 22/2
Free music gala, traditional dishes for Tết
Viet Nam News Free music gala, Tết style More than 10,000 migrant workers living in rural districts will attend a music gala at the HCM City Youth Cultural House called Golden Ochna Welcomes Tết (Lunar New Year), which is part of the city’s Labour Federation’s charitable and cultural activities during the national holiday. As many as 60 singers, dancers and comedians will participate, including last year’s winners of the Golden Ochna Award, an annual award that honours Vietnamese performers in theatre, music, film and TV. Dancers from Bông Sen Theatre will open the night performing the traditional dance "HCM City Welcomes Spring". Pop stars Mỹ Tâm and Đông Nhi, and the pop band Monstar and Uni5 will be featured, singing popular Lunar New Year songs. Trấn Thành and Hoài Linh, Golden Ochna winners in comedy and theatre, will perform extracts from comic dramas about the Ông … [Read more...] about Free music gala, traditional dishes for Tết
Flies become a cash cow for Mekong Delta farmer
Pham Van Be has been running his black soldier fly farm for five years in Duc Hoa District, Long An Province, which borders Saigon to the west. After working as a teacher for more than two decades, he shifted to farming pigeons and snakes before settling on the black soldier flies. The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, is a species widely cultivated in many countries. Their larvae are nutrient-rich food for pigs, poultry and seafood. The insect is also used to treat waste in agriculture and craft villages. "From my previous experience in pigeon rearing, I learnt that birds which feed on larvae grow faster. I looked up more information to find that black solider flies are not harmful to the environment and they grow well, so I reared some as an experiment. It was difficult at first because this species is quite hard to find in nature," said 50-year-old entrepreneur. The farm covers an area of 500 square meters that houses 32 enclosures or cages. Be invested more than VND100 … [Read more...] about Flies become a cash cow for Mekong Delta farmer
Vietnamese bamboo ensemble with classical aspirations – VnExpress International
Back to English Comments Travel & Life - October 18, 2018 | 09:37 am GMT+7 An ensemble of folk bamboo instruments has set its sights on symphonizing traditional and folk Vietnamese music. It's a warm October night. Dong Quang Vinh, conductor at the Hanoi-based Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM), was surrounded by his ensemble, Suc Song Moi (New Life), and the Hanoi Voices Choir, rehearsing for the Tre Mua Thu (Autumn Bamboo) concert this weekend at L'espace.It was an unusual spectacle. A group of Vietnamese bamboo instrument players facing a classical choir, together practicing “Libertango” by Italian composer Astor Piazzolla.“Suc Song Moi is the only pure bamboo ensemble to play music in a symphonic style,” Vinh said with evident pride.Vinh was born to a family with a strong legacy in traditional music. His father is a bamboo instrument maker and a musician, and his mother is a zither player and teacher.Returning to Vietnam after a … [Read more...] about Vietnamese bamboo ensemble with classical aspirations – VnExpress International