Japanese experts offer advice to help farmers increase their income

Mr. Takebe Tsutomu said: If Vietnam wants to develop advanced agriculture, I think it should learn from the experience of Hokkaido province. This is the province with the most severe weather conditions. The Hokkaido government invests heavily in infrastructure. Trucks must be able to get into the fields. People have to build dams to irrigate the fields and install drainage systems. So while previously Hokkaido could not grow rice, now the rice produced here has become the best rice in Japan.

With the above investments, agricultural income in Hokkaido is 2.4 times higher than the salary of office workers. The harsh land has become very rich thanks to agriculture.

Nam Dan farmers produce spinach under the guidance of JICA. Photo courtesy

* Based on Vietnam's reality, how can we apply the Hokkaido lesson, in your opinion?

- I think we must first build a foundation for favorable investment. If we say "let's invest soon, let's develop high-tech agriculture" without specific infrastructure conditions or policies, it will be no different than saying "let's quickly produce cars" when there are no roads yet.

I think the Vietnamese Government and provincial authorities should consider the issues related to agricultural and rural development comprehensively. Not just the issue of increasing productivity and income.

Vietnam's declining birth rate and aging population are increasing faster than Japan's. The pension system is largely non-existent, and rural areas will become deserted. It is necessary to conduct comprehensive research on issues related to agriculture and rural organization, to see what should be done to develop agriculture in the process of re-planning and sustainable development.

In the near future, there will not be many workers in rural areas of Vietnam, so it is necessary to restructure villages and re-plan land. For example, building residential areas with full infrastructure and utilities, where farmers go to work in the fields by motorbike or car.

JICA expert team surveyed irrigation works in Hoa Son commune, Do Luong. Photo courtesy

* So where should Vietnam focus, sir?

- Vietnam's agriculture is about 30 years behind Japan's. Recently, I have received a lot of information about inviting Japanese investors to invest in Vietnam's agriculture. The problem is whether high-performance machines will operate well when brought into Vietnam.

There have been cases where machinery has been rendered inoperable due to waterlogged conditions. In addition, infrastructure development such as land reclamation, water management, and land preparation is costly. Do Japanese companies invest in these items? Probably not.

The government needs to provide guidance and direction to businesses on sustainable agricultural development and business. If this is not done well, it will not create a stable investment environment.

Besides attracting foreign investment in agricultural development, Vietnamese youth must be the driving force for rural agricultural development in the future. Vietnamese youth should go to places like Hokkaido to determine what to do in the future.

Currently, many Japanese agricultural cooperatives are accepting technical interns, so young Vietnamese people should take advantage of this opportunity to start a business in their homeland. If this is widely implemented, I think it will increase the number of people determined to develop Vietnamese agriculture.