Solving difficulties for Nghe An farmers in digital transformation and creative startups

On the morning of July 28, in Vinh city, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union organized a forum on "Farmers with good production and business, innovation and creativity".

Attending the forum were representatives of the national coordinator of the United Nations Global Environment Facility in Vietnam, representatives of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union; representatives of Farmers' Unions at all levels, relevant departments and branches, and representatives of good production and business households of Nghe An province.

With the theme "Raising awareness and capacity on creative startups, digital transformation and the OCOP program", the forum focused on discussing contents such as: How to organize a movement of good farmers, get rich and sustainably reduce poverty to keep pace with the current rapid and strong economic growth; Innovative approaches to suit reality, in the face of market fluctuations, consumer tastes and climate change.

What policies and mechanisms need to be supplemented or amended to remove difficulties and motivate farmers to start businesses and be self-reliant so that "farmers are rich and agriculture is prosperous"?

Up to now, the total number of people living in rural areas accounts for 83% of the province's population; the labor force working in the agricultural, forestry and fishery sector is 986.5 thousand people. The level, education and production organization capacity of farmers have been improved: The rate of trained rural laborers has increased significantly; farmers' production thinking has been more innovative, adaptive and dynamic in market economic conditions. Up to now, the whole province has had 142,336 farming households meeting the criteria of good production and business farming households at all levels, of which 3,708 households are at the provincial level.

In the coming time, the Farmers' Association will continue to promote propaganda work to strongly shift people's thinking and awareness from agricultural production to agricultural economic development associated with market demand; shift from small-scale agricultural production to production and business according to the value chain; mobilize farmers to shift the agricultural production structure on the basis of applying scientific and technical advances, shifting the structure of crops and livestock towards developing multifunctional agriculture, creating large-scale concentrated commodity production areas in a modern direction; applying high technology, ecology, clean agriculture, forming value chains; increasing value per unit area, ensuring sustainable development.

Promote innovation and application of science and technology in production, preservation, processing, consumption of agricultural products, enriching agriculture and rural areas; Create a favorable environment to support farmers in management, production and business development, create livelihoods, stable jobs, access to resources, scientific and technological advances; Focus on building economic models, high-tech application models, linkages in production, promotion, product consumption, etc.

At the forum, there were many presentations from good business households on issues such as: Circular agricultural economic model of Mr. Phan The Chien (Nghia My commune, Thai Hoa town); production and business model of high-quality purebred rice varieties, processing and trading high-quality safe rice, difficulties, challenges and recommendations of Mr. Phan Van Hoa (Vinh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district); veal ham processing model of Tran Dinh Chung household (Hop Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district); aquaculture model of Mr. Nguyen Hong Cuong (Quynh Di ward, Hoang Mai town); safe food business model of Ms. Bui Thi Thao household (Son Hai commune, Quynh Luu district)...

Accordingly, in addition to sharing experiences in production and business, market access, and OCOP product development, delegates also proposed recommendations such as: Supporting loans for business households with optimal interest rates, minimizing cumbersome administrative procedures; Organizing a value chain from production to consumption; Supporting brand building, trade promotion, connecting consumption for OCOP products, aiming for export...