Nghe An province has 280 communes that meet the standards for new rural areas.

From May 2021 to the present, the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted many sectors, including the new rural development program. However, localities in the province have remained committed to meeting the set criteria in order to achieve the planned targets.

In Nghi Loc, the entire political system is involved in the New Rural Development program. The district is focusing on completing the dossier to submit to the Central Government for assessment of the district's eligibility for New Rural Development standards. At the same time, it is urgently completing construction projects and improving the quality of criteria to serve the assessment of the district's eligibility for New Rural Development standards. Nghi Loc is implementing a plan to build communes that meet advanced New Rural Development standards in 2021, focusing on Nghi Long, Khanh Hop, and Nghi Xuan communes; and is reviewing the need for cement support to serve the construction of advanced New Rural Development and prevent the loss of New Rural Development standards in communes, developing a plan for cement supply in the coming period for communes to implement.

Landscape of Hoang Mai town. Photo: Nhat Thanh

In Con Cuong district, the Steering Committee for the New Rural Development Program regularly urges communes to focus on accelerating progress in 2021.

Mr. Lo Van Ly, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the district, said: The district is focusing on maintaining and improving the criteria for Bong Khe, Yen Khe, and Chi Khe communes; raising the criteria for the remaining communes and focusing on building the 6 villages registered to achieve the new rural development goals in 2021. In the first 10 months of the year, the entire district had one commune, Mau Duc, which added one criterion, raising the average number of criteria per commune to 12.17 (an increase of 0.09 criteria compared to the beginning of the year). All 6 villages have implemented an increase of 1-2 criteria compared to the initial registration. Many agricultural models have been implemented in the area, such as the green pumpkin cultivation model in Mon Son commune with a scale of 2.2 hectares and a yield of 43 tons/ha, which has been highly appreciated by the people; the model of growing Gynostemma pentaphyllum linked to product consumption in Lang Khe commune with a scale of 1.34 hectares; and the pure rice cultivation model...

By the end of 2020, Hung Nguyen district had 16 out of 17 communes achieving the New Rural Area (NRA) status, reaching a rate of 94.1%, with an average of 16.8 criteria per commune. In 2021, the goal was to bring Hung Yen Nam commune to the NRA status. However, due to the commune's extremely difficult economic conditions and the significant investment required to meet the remaining criteria, progress in achieving these criteria has been slow.

Overall, localities and units throughout the province have actively implemented the contents of the 2021 plan; focusing on directing 20 communes to register for achieving new rural standards, 24 communes to register for achieving advanced new rural standards, 3 communes to register for achieving model new rural standards, and 1 district (Quynh Luu) to register for achieving new rural standards in 2021 to complete the contents and criteria that have not yet been met.

The traditional rice wine-making village of Don Phuc (Con Cuong) has just been assessed and approved. Photo: Ba Hau.

Nghi Loc District, Hoang Mai Town, and relevant agencies are actively completing the dossier and submitting it.Prime MinisterRecognizing the completion of tasks and achieving the new rural standard at the district level, Nam Dan district is actively implementing the Project "Building Nam Dan district, Nghe An province into a model new rural district in the direction of cultural development associated with tourism, giai đoạn 2018-2025".

By September 2021, the entire province had 280 out of 411 communes recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as meeting the standards for New Rural Development, accounting for 68.13%. This included 8 communes in poor districts under Decree 30a, 2 border communes, 31 communes with a large ethnic minority population, and 2 communes recognized as meeting advanced New Rural Development standards (Kim Lien commune).Nam Dan districtand Quynh Doi commune, Quynh Luu district). Six district-level units have completed their tasks and achieved the New Rural Area standard; 898 villages and hamlets have achieved the New Rural Area standard.

New rural area in Tan Son (Do Luong). Photo: The Thang