Promptly address mechanisms and policies to support farmers.

(Baonghean) Recently, through meetings with voters by People's Council representatives at all levels, voters have raised many concerns regarding the slow implementation of policies supporting farmers in developing production.

Investigations in Nghi Loc district revealed that in September 2011, due to prolonged rain and flooding, 600 hectares of corn crops were completely destroyed. According to the mechanism for supporting agricultural, forestry, and fisheries production development outlined in Decision No. 10/2010/QD-UBND-NN dated January 20, 2010, of the Provincial People's Committee (now Decision No. 09 of the Provincial People's Committee), the 600 hectares damaged by the aforementioned natural disaster were entitled to support in the form of 120,000 kg of seeds for replanting, equivalent to nearly 1 billion VND, which has yet to be implemented by the province.

Also related to the slow implementation of policy mechanisms, Nghi Loc district is still facing delays in providing support for plastic sheeting for rice seedlings to protect against cold weather and plastic sheeting for peanuts in the spring of 2012 (the province has already advanced more than half of the total support funds for plastic sheeting to protect rice seedlings from cold weather) and the 30% support for fertilizer costs for the construction of model fields (180 hectares in the spring of 2012).

Mr. Nguyen Duc Tho, Head of the Agriculture Department of Nghi Loc District, added: According to Decision 45 of the Provincial People's Committee, the mechanisms and policies to support farmers are assigned to the district, using funds from the district's disaster relief reserve to pay farmers. However, in reality, the district's resources only amount to 3-4 billion VND, while the total support amount according to the policy is over 5 billion VND, as in the policy to support damage to crops and livestock caused by natural disasters in 2011. Given this difficulty, to ensure timely support for farmers with seeds for production, at that time, the District People's Committee directed communes and agricultural service cooperatives to contact businesses supplying seeds and materials to farmers.

However, due to outstanding debts, some businesses are currently refusing to provide farmers with further advance loans for the upcoming winter-spring crop season. This will certainly create difficulties in the district's agricultural production management. The district has completed all necessary procedures for the province to allocate funds and has received approval from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Finance, but the support funds have not yet been disbursed.

The aforementioned situation is not unique to Nghi Loc but is quite common in other localities throughout the province. Therefore, all levels and sectors need to actively address these issues and create favorable conditions for localities to effectively direct agricultural production development.

Minh Chi