The trip, which was organised as part of Ricegrowers Association’s Established Leaders Program, was coordinated after SunRice expanded its reach in the country by purchasing a Vietnamese rice mill.
Program participant and RGA president Jeremy Morton was one of five ricegrowers to unite with SunRice representatives to see the mill and gain an understanding of the local producers.
‘‘The mill should be up in full operation in September,’’ Mr Morton said.
‘‘With the amount of work that is happening, it is an interesting contrast in Vietnam to what’s happening in Australia right now.
‘‘In Vietnam it is happening straight away, but if you tried to do this in Australia it would take two years just to get approval.’’
Mr Morton said the new mill in Vietnam would become a backup for Australian farmers struggling to produce crops with the current lack of water allocations.
‘‘Once you are out of the market someone will take your place, so it is very hard to get back in,’’ he said.
‘‘This mill will have the ability to provide the SunRice market in place of Australian growers who are unable to produce what is needed, continuing to make rice a viable option in the Riverina.
‘‘We also looked into the research around breeding in Vietnam for the tropical climate in order to have varieties acceptable in the market.
‘‘We asked the Vietnamese farmers if they could have anything that they value, what it would be? They said to cut out the middle man. This has made it important to work directly from the mill to growers, which will allow us to better understand their productive system and maintain good relations.’’
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