Minister Le Minh Hoan: Agriculture must shift from production thinking to economic thinking, brands must be built from 'human brand'

On the morning of July 24, comrade Le Minh Hoan - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development visited and worked with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An.

Comrade Le Minh Hoan - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development visited and worked with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An. Photo: Pham Bang

Agricultural production value growth is the best ever

Nghe An is the province with the largest natural area in the country with 16,486.5 km², population over 3.4 million people, ranked 4th in the country. Agricultural and rural development activities are carried out in a large area with more than 1.485 million hectares of agricultural land, accounting for 90.11% of the total natural land area; population with 2,843,592 people living in rural areas, accounting for 84.5% of the province's population.

In 2021 and the first 6 months of 2022, despite many difficulties, Nghe An's agricultural sector still achieved many important results, serving as a support for the economy. In 2021, the value of agricultural, forestry and fishery production achieved the best growth rate ever with 38,409 billion VND; the growth rate of the industry's production value reached 5.59%, exceeding the set plan.

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van De briefly reported on the development results of the agricultural sector in recent times. Photo: Pham Bang

In the first 6 months of 2022, unfavorable weather conditions, complicated developments of some epidemics, and high prices of agricultural materials have affected people's investment in production. However, the province's agriculture and rural development sector still achieved many outstanding results. The total agricultural, forestry and fishery products reached 11,138 billion VND, an increase of 4.14%.

In the construction of new rural areas, the whole province mobilized and combined capital sources to reach 12,445 billion VND. Up to now, the whole province has 299/411 communes meeting new rural standards, reaching 72.75%; 20 communes meeting advanced new rural standards; 2 communes meeting model new rural standards; the average number of criteria of communes reaching 16.80 criteria/commune; 7 district-level units have completed their tasks and met new rural standards.

Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Cong Thang presented the Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. Photo: Pham Bang

The One Commune One Product (OCOP) program has been effectively implemented. By the end of 2021, the whole province had 249 products meeting OCOP standards of 3 stars or higher. The whole province has 637 agricultural cooperatives, with 580 farms meeting the criteria.

The total export value of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in 2021 reached over 382 million USD, reaching 152.8%. In 2021, the province attracted 17 agricultural projects with a scale of over 345 hectares, with a total investment of 3,245.24 billion VND.

Shift from agricultural production thinking to agricultural economics

At the meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan shared that to be a leader, one must know how to dream, have dreams, have imagination, which urges us to solve those problems. At the same time, we must ask ourselves questions and answer them, why are we doing that, who are we working for?

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan shares the development orientation of the agricultural sector in the coming time. Photo: Pham Bang

Answering the above question, Minister Le Minh Hoan said that we must work for farmers with our own consciousness, responsibility, duty, and conditions. Every official in the industry must always be concerned and worried about how to solve the "pain" of farmers, and solve the "bottlenecks" of the agricultural sector with practical actions.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan also listened to, directly answered, and clarified the opinions of businesses in the agricultural sector and scientists related to increasing the value of forestry land, irrigation systems, and the value of agricultural enterprises.

In particular, the Minister affirmed that the approach to multi-use and sustainable forests must include 5 values: wood materials, wildlife conservation, carbon absorption, natural landscapes, and products other than wood.

Ms. Chu Thi Thanh - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Thien Minh Duc Group asked Minister Le Minh Hoan. Photo: Pham Bang

"Land is increasingly shrinking and narrowing, so what will the agricultural sector rely on for growth in the next 5 years?" - Minister Le Minh Hoan raised the issue and said that growth must be based on increasing value, through shifting from agricultural production thinking to agricultural economic thinking, shifting from single value to multi-value. Because any agricultural product is both food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

"Agricultural economic thinking is a sales mindset. If you want to be successful, you have to sell yourself through emotions, passion, belief, responsibility to the community, to society, and the brand must be built from the brand name" - Minister Le Minh Hoan emphasized.

In agricultural economics, it is necessary to calculate and solve factors related to production costs, agricultural product quality, consumption market, added value, building industry chains and connecting supply and demand... to be successful.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that agricultural economic thinking is a sales thinking, thinking for the buyer, not the seller. Photo: Pham Bang

"Economic thinking is a matter of subtracting the selling price and the cost, thinking for the buyer, not the seller," said comrade Le Minh Hoan, adding that the agricultural sector of Nghe An province must convey the message of humane and sustainable agricultural production, creating value and enjoying value together./.