New direction for Nghe An agriculture

Ho Duc Phuc

Member of the Central Party Committee

Secretary of Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of People's Council of Nghe An province

(Baonghean.vn) - Nghe An is the province with the largest natural area in the country (16,500 km2), the 4th largest population in the country. With diverse natural geographical features, including borders, mountains, plains, rivers, seas, etc., Nghe An can be considered a miniature Vietnam.

Large agricultural and forestry land fund, fertile soil (especially in Western Nghe An), relatively complete irrigation network, many river mouths and seaports are important advantages of Nghe An in agricultural development.

Current situation and solutions for agricultural development in Nghe An

To assess the current level of agricultural development in Nghe An, we first need to clearly identify which stage and process we are in in the modern standard agricultural production model. From agricultural production on a small-scale, self-sufficient or not highly commercialized household scale, Nghe An has now established large specialized agricultural areas such as: rice (85,000 ha), sugarcane (33,000 ha), rubber (10,000 ha), tea (9,000 ha), orange (3,000 ha), passion fruit (1,200 ha), grass for dairy cows (9,000 ha), ...

Vinh oranges - one of Nghe An's key agricultural products has initially successfully built a brand in the domestic agricultural market. (Photo courtesy of Nghe An Newspaper)

This is a signal that Nghe An agriculture has changed, responding to the requirements and trends of the general economy. However, Nghe An's crop productivity is not high, the economic value per unit area is still low, and many key products with local brands that are highly competitive in the market have not been developed.

The reason is that the technology applied to agricultural production is still limited, the production "chain" only stops at the stage of commercializing raw products and has not yet gone into the stage of processing and exporting refined products. Similarly, the cultivation, livestock and aquatic and seafood exploitation industries have not developed synchronously, reaching the scale of commodity production but only following the household model.

In general, the economic value of Nghe An's agriculture is not high, partly explaining the average income per capita of only 29 million VND/person/year (data calculated as of the end of 2015).

(Graphics by: Thuc Anh)

From the above situation, the task of developing agriculture towards industrialization and modernization in Nghe An is set as an urgent task. To achieve that goal, the direction for Nghe An in the coming time is to promote agricultural restructuring with some specific solutions as follows:

Firstly, linking agricultural development with new rural construction. In 2015, the whole province had 114 communes meeting new rural standards, accounting for 27% of the total number of communes, leading the country in the number of communes meeting standards. In the process of building new rural areas, not only the agricultural infrastructure system was upgraded but also the traffic and social infrastructure systems were renovated. Thereby, better serving the needs of transportation, travel, trade and commerce, raising people's awareness, and increasing the economic value of agricultural products.

Second, build, expand or re-plan economic models with the goal of increasing output and economic value, spreading effective models. In the period of 2011 - 2015, the whole province has built more than 4,500 agricultural economic models, notably 100 large-scale field models thanks to the active implementation of the policy of land consolidation and plot exchange in 21/21 districts, cities and towns, increasing efficiency by 10 - 15% compared to mass production.

Many other effective models such as raising cows, raising pigs for meat, raising super egg-laying chickens, raising fish in hydroelectric reservoirs, growing medicinal plants, producing incense, etc. bring good income to farmers, and need to be maintained and expanded. In addition, implementing the policy of rearranging and innovating state-owned agricultural and forestry farms since 2004, Nghe An has so far established 7 agricultural companies and 5 forestry companies, made plans for equitization, reorganized in a streamlined direction, reviewed land funds, strengthened management, and ensured effective use of agricultural and forestry land funds.

Demonstration of agricultural mechanization. Photo: Phu Huong

Third, increase the technology content in agricultural production through mechanization, biotechnology, use of high-precision production lines and applications to target the processing industry. Notable high-tech agricultural projects in Nghe An such as dairy farming and fresh milk production of TH True Milk, Vinamilk; Masan Food Processing Factory; Royal Foods Seafood Processing Factory; ... are typical examples opening a new direction for Nghe An agriculture, focusing more on refined products and "post-production" industries for production activities.

Attracting capital and technology level of enterprises - a new direction

The issue of capital sources is one of the difficulties with the limited central and local budgets while the production area and starting level of Nghe An agriculture are not high.

In that context, attracting investors in the agricultural sector and encouraging the construction of an economic model linking businesses with farmers can be a new and promising direction. On the one hand, diversifying and enriching investment capital for agricultural development, on the other hand, allowing farmers and Nghe An agriculture to access advanced scientific and technological advances, changing the mindset of traditional small-scale agriculture, moving towards improving products and expanding markets.

Japan is one of the countries that is actively promoting investment in Nghe An agriculture and has initially achieved positive results. Many Japanese expert delegations have come to survey the field and determined that Nghe An is a land with many advantages for Japanese enterprises to invest effectively. Some crops and products that Japanese investors are interested in and intend to invest in and develop are tea, sesame, peanuts and rice.

A delegation of experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) surveyed the agricultural market in Nghe An. Photo: Canh Nam

After building the factory, the Japanese partner will instruct farmers on cultivation and harvesting techniques and commit to purchasing the products. This way, it will not only bring economic benefits to farmers but also create a golden opportunity for us to access foreign knowledge and technology, improving the level of local agricultural production.

After the success of the first projects in cooperation with Japanese investors, we will develop other crops such as sugarcane, oranges, passion fruit, ginger, vegetables, etc. based on the international standard models introduced by businesses. Thus, the benefits we receive are not only direct benefits for farmers through economic contracts, budget revenue for the province but also technology transfer, the creation and promotion of Nghe An agriculture brand to domestic and foreign friends.

Similarly, with the forestry, livestock and fisheries sectors, we must aim for sustainable cooperation models between businesses and people with a professional, modern closed process, promoting commercialization values ​​such as linking forest planting with processing of diverse products of high quality (wood, clean coal, plywood, etc.), raising dairy cows to serve the dairy industry, raising Australian beef cattle for high economic value, building large fleets of offshore fishing vessels, attracting seafood processing factories, etc.

Raising Australian beef cattle in Nghi Lam, Nghi Loc - a project of Ket Phat Thinh Company - opens a new direction for the livestock industry in Nghe An. (Photo courtesy of Nghe An Newspaper)

Take the example of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan - an agricultural province with a population of 3 million - with a GDP of 110 billion USD. With its inherent advantages, Nghe An can completely develop a high-value economy, with a position and competitiveness in the domestic and foreign markets.

The key lies in improving productivity and production value so that the agricultural sector does not fall behind in the period of deep integration. Investment cooperation and learning from enterprises of advanced countries is the right direction and also the shortest path for our province's agriculture to develop, contributing to the successful implementation of the target of Resolution 26 of the Politburo on Nghe An development until 2020.

Ho Duc Phuc