To help provincial agriculture overcome integration challenges

(Baonghean) - As a locality with the largest natural area in the country, a large population, mostly living in rural areas and still relying heavily on agricultural production, in recent years, Nghe An's agricultural production has achieved progress in terms of output, productivity and quality. However, in general, Nghe An's productivity and quality of agricultural products are not high, there is no strong brand, competitiveness is still limited, the consumption market is not stable, and exports to foreign markets are still weak.

In the context of Vietnam joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Nghe An must certainly pay much attention to the impact of this agreement on its agricultural development goals in the coming years. In our opinion, to overcome the challenges and join the global "playground", the province needs the following solutions:

Firstly, restructuring the agricultural sector towards increasing added value. From the internal structure of the industry, product structure, investment structure, labor structure all need to be restructured. The most difficult is livestock farming, which needs to be "reformed" soon. Some experts even believe that the livestock industry in the province will face bankruptcy after the TPP, because Nghe An's livestock farming currently shows many weaknesses such as small scale, high cost, constantly facing epidemics while the slaughtering and cold storage systems are not up to standard. Therefore, when opening up, cheap livestock products from abroad will flood in, quickly dominating the market, causing domestic livestock farmers to suffer. However, if farmers are aware of their "weaknesses" and start to reform and expand production scale, boldly invest in and develop large farms, import foreign breeds, equipment, and breeding processes from advanced countries, thereby reducing costs and improving product quality, then they may have a foothold.

One of Nghe An's strengths but also a vulnerable sector when joining the TPP is agricultural exports. Joining the TPP, the sugar cane, fruit, milk, tea, coffee, pepper production industries... are facing fierce competition. The limitations in fragmented production, low productivity and efficiency; unprocessed products, need to be quickly overcome. We strongly agree with the opinion of Mr. Tran Anh Son - General Director of Nghe An Agricultural Products Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation: "In Vietnam, our production is fragmented and small-scale. They go into mechanization, we go into manual labor. These are two differences that make it difficult for our goods to compete. Moreover, with fragmented and small-scale production, it is also very difficult to control the input of antibiotic residues. Therefore, when joining the TPP, we must change the production structure, change from plants, breeds, and production forms to respond to the TPP".

Second, developing high-tech agriculture. This is a sustainable direction and also a very good investment direction for economic development. Therefore, it is necessary to focus resources and strengthen scientific research, technology development, promote the commercialization of scientific and technological products in agriculture; it is necessary to create a mechanism for enterprises to access and use the State's science and technology development funds. In addition, there should be a mechanism to encourage the formation of linkages between enterprises and farmers, linkages in scientific research and technology development, application, transfer, and reception of scientific and technological products between institutes and research centers. The State needs to have strong support policies for enterprises applying high technology, producing in a modern, closed direction from input to output.

Third, establish a product traceability system. To enjoy tariff incentives, the biggest barrier for Nghe An enterprises is the requirement on origin and localization rate. In addition, there are many strict regulations, requiring a deep level of commitment in trade, services, investment, intellectual property... as well as meeting technical standards, labor safety, environmental sanitation. The weak point of Nghe An products when entering the world market is the lack of geographical indications (GIs). GIs are essentially proof of the origin of the product. For example, "Cam Vinh", "Vít bầu Quỳ Châu", "sầu TH True Milk". In fact, Vietnamese manufacturers and distributors are not really interested in GIs. If you want to protect product ownership, you need to widely promote and encourage the building of product brands: such as product names, packaging, labels, origin, international quality. On the other hand, you need to pay attention to controlling product quality. To evaluate quality, you need to build quality standards according to European or US standards. Some Vietnamese agricultural products when exported to the world market are returned, most of them violate the committed quality standards. Notably, the residue of pesticides and preservatives exceeds the permitted level.

Vinh oranges are increasingly affirming their quality and brand. Photo: Dao Tuan

Fourth, develop the service system in the agricultural sector. Full and convenient services are the dream of any farmer when participating in agricultural production activities. Therefore, agricultural services such as providing plant varieties, livestock, fertilizers, veterinary medicines, pesticides, machinery, agricultural materials and lending services to support production are born as a necessity to meet that need. The more services develop, the more conditions farmers have to boost production, improve labor productivity, contributing to the overall development of the country's agriculture. In order for agriculture to be effective, it is necessary to organize well agricultural services such as: lending services to support production, providing agricultural machinery, providing fertilizers, animal feed and pesticides, providing plant varieties, livestock, etc.

Fifth, build and develop agricultural product brands. Quickly build and affirm business brands, product brands, improve the quality of exported goods, especially ensuring health safety requirements for consumers. In the immediate future, it is necessary to search for and select markets to supply goods regularly, not depending much on the season. The markets of partners in the TPP are very "difficult", there are many competitors; therefore, businesses and producers must put reputation first, put their interests in close connection with the interests of the community, avoid "grab and run" business, "eat fast", greedy for small immediate benefits without seeing the big long-term harm.

Sixth, access and expand domestic and foreign distribution systems. Connect to international sales networks, actively participate in fairs. Carefully research and invest appropriately to grasp consumer demand, especially for large markets such as the US, Australia, Malaysia, Japan... More precisely, it is necessary to study the rules of the TPP, propagate to farmers and businesses fully and accurately. Expand network information channels to connect domestically and internationally about fluctuations in supply and demand and prices of agricultural products. At the same time, functional agencies such as the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Information and Communications must promote and improve the effectiveness of propaganda work, disseminating knowledge to businesses, producers, farmers... about international law, the principles of "rules of the game" and the agreements and commitments of our State with partners (international organizations, countries, governments, foreign enterprises...) in the fields of trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

Nguyen Dang Bang