On Sept. 29, the story of a farmer in Dak Lak earning just VND35,000 from three months of rice cultivation spread widely on social media.

The post was shared by 37-year-old Vo Van Duc, a resident of Tay Hoa Commune in Dak Lak Province. It has attracted more than 12,000 likes, 2,000 comments and around 2.5 million views.

Duc said his family cultivates about 1,000 square meters of rice fields.

Expenses for land preparation, fertilizer, pesticides, transplanting and harvesting totaled around VND2.215 million ($84).

However, prolonged heavy rain caused the rice plants to collapse, while part of the field was flooded. As a result, his family harvested only about 450 kilograms of rice.

Because the harvested rice was wet, its selling price fell to just VND5,000 per kilogram, bringing the family total revenue of VND2.25 million ($85).

After deducting expenses, Duc was left with only about VND35,000 ($1.30) for three months of work.

That figure does not include the cost of rice seed.

Duc’s family is far from alone. Many rice-growing households in eastern Dak Lak have been left with heavy losses this season following prolonged rainfall.

Nguyen Huu Duong, born in 1960 and living in Phu Huu Village, Hoa Thinh Commune, cultivates around 9,000 square meters of rice fields.

Rice flattened by the weather is now selling for just VND1,500 per kilogram, compared with VND4,000-5,200 per kilogram for unaffected crops.

Floodwater and mud have turned the rice black, severely reducing its quality, while yields have also fallen sharply.

Some 500-square-meter plots are producing only about two bags of rice worth roughly VND150,000 ($5.70), while hiring workers to harvest the same area costs as much as VND350,000 ($13.30).

“The cost of hiring workers to harvest the rice is now higher than what we can earn from selling it, so we have no choice but to abandon the fields,” Duong said. “Rice left submerged in mud will eventually spoil and become worthless. We have to leave these areas and wait to start again next season.”

Huynh Van Bao, director of the Hoa Xuan Tay Agricultural Services Cooperative, said unusual weather was the main reason fresh rice prices had recently fallen sharply compared with the same period last year.

A local survey showed that traders were buying fresh rice for only VND5,000 per kilogram or less, he said.

According to the Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and Environment, prolonged heavy rain from Sept. 21-25 flooded and flattened large areas of farmland in the eastern part of the province.

Across Dak Lak, more than 2,316 hectares of rice, over 362 hectares of cassava and 9.5 hectares of vegetables were damaged.

Hai Duong