There are many brands of rice on the market that are made from the VD20 rice variety. However, the best known is the special rice VD20 Go Cong from HK Trading Co., Ltd (HK Company, Tien Giang).

According to Mr. Chau Minh Hai, director of HK Company, only in the country Go Cong VD20 special rice is grown for the best VD20 rice quality. But especially in the land of Go Cong, not everyone has a predestined relationship with this special type of rice.

“VD20 rice is only suitable for hill soils with saline alluvial soil. In Go Cong, at maximum exploitation, only about 2,500 hectares of land is suitable for VD20 special rice cultivation,” said Mr. Hai.

Although the yield of rice VD20 is not high (5 – 5.5 tons/ha), it still gives high quality rice. When cooked into rice, it is fragrant, soft and flexible. Since rice is grown on saline soil, the rice has a slightly salty taste. When the soup is cooked, the rice will break down and will not be stale after 24 hours.

At present, HK Company’s specialty rice product VD20 Go Cong has not only been certified 4-star OCOP standard by the People’s Committee of Tien Giang Province, but also certified by SGS Vietnam Co., Ltd. to meet 13 European standards.

Mr. Hai confided that he had to “go to the field” many times for VD20 rice to have a place in the market. He even had to sell two plots of land worth tens of billions of dongs to recoup his loss in building a rice brand.

When he saw about 7 years ago that the rice variety VD20 had special qualities and a high economic potential, he was determined to build a brand and a brand name in order to gain a foothold in the market. When he chose the Land Go Cong to build the material area and deploy the model, Mr. Hai dispatched technical personnel to teach farmers the process of organic farming.

To encourage farmers to participate, Mr. Hai invested in a package of material costs including: seeds, organic fertilizers and pesticides in the form of capital support with no interest. Farmers are also supported with an additional 300,000 VND/ha during harvest. In order to get input and output support, farmers must follow the correct cultivation process and use the specialty rice variety VD20.

The problem arose during the construction of the VD20 rice material area, it became a “thorn” in the side of local traders. They find ways to destroy the VD20 rice material area he built. “Local traders are wildly pushing the purchase price to destroy the area of ​​rice material I make. In order to keep the rice price down, the traders “beat the price”, I had to buy high-priced rice for the farmers and then accept to sell rice at a loss. There was a time when I had to sell 2 lots to pay off debts because I wanted to preserve this resource area,” said Mr. Hai.

At present, HK Company cooperates with VD20 rice specialists in Go Cong, Tien Giang, covering an area of ​​about 1,200 hectares. According to the Tien Giang Province Rural Development Subdepartment, HK Company’s production linkage model used in the eastern districts is considered the most successful. In the last winter-spring harvest, the company bought more than 1,000 tons of VD20 rice for farmers participating in the model.

Farmer Vo Thanh Nha (Vinh Huu Township, Go Cong Tay) said that he has joined the production association model with HK Company for 4 years. Mr. Nha grows 3 crops every year with an average profit of 80 million VND per hectare. He said the farmers participating in the model are very excited because the profits are pretty good.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of Crop Production Department, VD20 is a community rice variety, so anyone can grow this grain of rice and build a brand of this grain of rice. Mr. Tung said that HK Company has long invested in the cultivation and consumption of VD20 rice and has helped many farmers improve by cultivating rice at a time when fertilizers and medicines are so high. Thanks to this, VD20 rice has a brand name and is loved by consumers.

According to the Tien Giang Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the agricultural restructuring province has implemented a project to restore VD20 rice variety in Tien Giang province. This restores the purity of the variety, improves the yield and some rice quality parameters of the specialty rice variety VD20 after extraction. Also, cultivation and preservation of the rice variety VD20 from the results of the restoration project as a seed source for the production of original rice seeds. At the same time, the production of original quality VD20 rice seed with an area of ​​7 ha (2 harvests/year) is the material source for supplying certified rice seed production teams.