Vietnam wins world’s best rice title for second time

The contest was organized by The Rice Trader, a publication providing in-depth analysis of the global rice industry. Thirty rice samples from more than 10 countries took part in this year’s edition. The ST25 rice from Vietnam became the winner of the competition, followed by Cambodian and Indian rice varieties.

This is the second time Vietnam has won the contest’s top award. Previously, the Ong Cua ST25 rice won the World’s Best Rice Contest in the Philippines in 2019 and took the second place at the World’s Best Rice Contest 2020 held in the US.

According to Ho Quang Cua, the “father” of ST25 rice, the current ST25 rice variety (line 72-6) is the result of rice cultivation by a new method, adding that it is different from the ST25 that won the top award in 2019 (line 68-10).

The ST25 rice sample sent to this year's contest was grown on 2.6 hectares along the Tien Cuong canal in Tien Cuong hamlet, Thanh Thoi An commune, Tran De district, Soc Trang province in the 2023 summer-autumn crop.