Struggling to find a large-scale production direction after land consolidation

(Baonghean) - The number of plots has decreased, the area of ​​each plot has increased, internal traffic and canals have been planned and built more systematically... are the results of land consolidation and plot exchange. At first, it was thought that agriculture could easily "do big business". However, from the reality in localities, we see that there are still many problems, especially in the linkage to create agricultural value chains.

Struggling with the goal of "large-scale production"

After the plantation and land exchange, localities in the province have also actively researched, built and expanded production models to improve production efficiency per unit area. For example, in Anh Son district, each commune, depending on the actual characteristics, has had forms of converting the structure of crops and seasons, such as Tam Son commune, which specializes in growing corn 3-4 crops/year to sell to dairy farming enterprises, has improved production efficiency.

Anh Son district also encourages people to proactively apply science and technology, bring new varieties into production; at the same time, organize delegations to visit and learn from experiences in many localities in the province and in the country for agricultural officials and farmers and have appropriate support policies.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Sang - Chairman of Anh Son District People's Committee assessed: After land consolidation and plot exchange, there are many production models in Anh Son, however, the linkage in production is not strong, especially in the output stage. From there, it leads to farmers being disadvantaged in the process of selling products... Meanwhile, it can be said that the role of "midwives" such as cooperatives has only a very limited impact in this matter.

Discussing with farmers about the process of introducing new rice varieties into production in Yen Thanh district. Photo: HN

This is also the issue that the leaders of Yen Thanh district - a locality considered the rice granary of the province - are really concerned about. Although according to the assessment of this locality, after land consolidation and plot exchange, there have been favorable conditions for joint ventures, production linkages, and the construction of large production fields.

Up to now, Yen Thanh district has built nearly 40 large production fields, 160 production development models for high income; linked with enterprises and scientific agencies such as Thai Binh Seed Company, Central Seed Company 1, Vietnam Agricultural Institute to produce rice seeds each year ranging from 600 - 800 hectares...

However, speaking to reporters, Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee Phan Van Tuyen expressed his concern: Although Yen Thanh is a rice district, when it comes to Yen Thanh, there is no specialty rice variety with a local brand or symbol. In agriculture, chains have only been formed in some groups and a few businesses, but there is no general strategy. Farmers mainly produce based on experience. "For Yen Thanh, agricultural production is still identified as the focus.

However, to improve production efficiency, it will be necessary to ask the province for approval to establish a district planning until 2030 on overall socio-economic development, national defense and security. From there, call on businesses to invest in linking with farmers to develop agricultural products such as rice seeds, rice meat, clean vegetables, etc. based on the planning areas" - Mr. Phan Van Tuyen shared, at the same time recommending: "The province needs to support the district level in determining the selection of agricultural products produced according to the market chain; at the same time, have strong enough policies to call on businesses to invest in the agricultural sector, especially high-tech agricultural investment".

Vegetable field of Phu Dien Joint Stock Company (APG)

In Do Luong district, the mobilization of farmers to consolidate, exchange plots, and convert land has created a fairly systematic field infrastructure for the locality, a trend of large-scale linkage, and a foundation for commodity agriculture. However, most communes are still struggling, not yet determining new plant varieties and clear production methods.

The communes have not dared to boldly convert, the district is also in the testing phase of some new crops, success is still ahead such as the plan to test planting 15 hectares of hemp in Dai Son, restore the mulberry growing area in the alluvial land associated with Xuan Nhu craft village or build a 20-hectare safe vegetable growing area in Thuan Son commune by bringing electricity and drilling water to the fields...

Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh - Vice Chairman of Do Luong District People's Committee said: Besides actively introducing some crops and livestock to build the model, the district encourages communes to proactively apply new plant varieties.

We look forward to the participation, assistance, and technical support of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and related functional sectors so that Do Luong can soon identify a set of highly effective plant and animal varieties in agricultural production, promote infrastructure conditions brought about by land consolidation and plot exchange, and move towards commodity production, creating higher economic value per unit area."

Promoting the "midwife" role of cooperatives and enterprises

It can be seen that the effectiveness of land consolidation and plot exchange has only stopped at the initial stage, while the reorganization of production to create breakthroughs is still very limited. Through research, the key problem is that agricultural production is mainly on a household scale, land accumulation is still limited; besides, the leading role of cooperatives and enterprises in this field is still very lacking and weak.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Nguyen Van Lap - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development cited: Every year, many businesses want to invest in agriculture in Nghe An, but what they are most concerned about is the situation of farmers "breaking the deal" when linking production. If possible, businesses want to rent areas of about 30 - 50 hectares to produce products such as rice seeds and pay rent to farmers. On the other hand, the issue is to promote the role of cooperatives.

In fact, despite the transformation of cooperative operating models according to the 2012 Law on Cooperatives as well as the mechanisms and policies to improve operational efficiency, not many cooperatives have demonstrated a major role in agricultural production, meaning there is still a situation of "new bottle, old wine".

Farmers in Dien Tan (Dien Chau) develop their farms thanks to loans from Phu Hau Cooperative, illustration photo

The nature of the new type of cooperative is to organize production according to the value chain, both providing input services for farmers and connecting with businesses to invest, process products and take care of output. However, agricultural service cooperatives in general, including those that have been transformed, mainly provide some input services...

There are many reasons for this situation, but the key is that the capacity of cooperative staff, especially management staff, has not met the requirements; the capital and technology of cooperatives are also still inadequate.

“The Provincial Cooperative Union focuses on consulting and connecting businesses and cooperatives to invest in industry and consume products; at the same time, it organizes training to improve the capacity of cooperative staff. The province will establish a Cooperative Support and Development Fund with a total capital of 30 billion VND in 3 years (2016 - 2018) to lend to cooperatives at preferential interest rates to improve production efficiency” - Mr. Tran Van Chuong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union talked about solutions to enhance the role and operational efficiency of cooperatives.

Putting combine harvesters into production in large-scale fields in Quynh Thach commune, Quynh Luu

Thus, it can be seen that to create a breakthrough in agricultural production, especially after land conversion, it is essential to find a solution to promote land accumulation while still ensuring the rights of farmers; thereby, people and businesses have land to organize larger-scale and more efficient commodity production; at the same time, it is necessary to enhance the "midwife" role of cooperatives and businesses in this field.

During a recent working trip to Nghe An on policies and solutions to promote land accumulation and concentration in the process of agricultural and rural industrialization, Deputy Head of the Central Economic Commission Cao Duc Phat emphasized: To turn agricultural production into a large-scale commodity, there must be linkages through cooperatives and enterprises. To do that, it is necessary to do a good job of land accumulation, creating conditions for people and enterprises to invest in production... Nghe An needs solutions to support people in the work of confirming, converting, leasing, and transferring agricultural land.

PV Group