On November 30, Ho Quang Cua and private enterprise Ho Quang Tri stated that Ong Cua ST25 had won the World's Best Rice 2023 award in the Philippines. The second prize was awarded to Cambodia and the third prize to India.

Vietnamese rice fought against 30 rice samples from 10 countries to win the title. This is the second time ST25 has won the first prize at the rice competition.

However, a debate has occurred about which rice variety of Vietnam gained the award. The problem is that The Rice Trader announced that Vietnam’s rice is the winner of the competition, but did not specify if only Ong Cua ST25, or all six rice products, won the title.

Three Vietnamese enterprises sent their rice samples to the competition. One of them, Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise, sent ST24 and ST25, while Loc Troi Group competed with LT28, and Nang Hoa 9 and Thai Binh Seeds competed with TBR39-1 and A Sao sticky rice.

Loc Troi stated that its LT28 and Nang Hoa 9, the two special varieties, together with four varieties of the other two rice producers from Vietnam, won the victory.

At a press conference about the International Rice Festival Vietnam – Hau Giang 2023 held on December 1, Nguyen Nhu Cuong, director of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said under the rules of the contest, applied since 2022, prizes will not be given to any specific rice variety, but given to nations.

At the contest, Vietnam’s rice won first prize.

A local newspaper quoted Jeremy Zwinger, the managing director of The Rice Trader, the organization that holds the international rice summit and granted the World’s Best Rice award as affirming that prizes are always granted to all the rice products of a nation in general. This allows winning countries, including rice traders, local authorities and seed traders can enjoy the prizes together.

Zwinger said that the brand and variety which really win the competition will only be announced by the organizing board after six months.

However, because of the strong arguments about which rice variety is the best, The Rice Trader on December 5 stated that the best rice variety in 2023 is ST25 from Vietnam, developed by Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise.

Tam An