Our country's agriculture still relies mainly on 'muscle'

According to Professor, Academician Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of the Vietnam Plant Breeding Association, our country's agriculture still relies mainly on "muscle". That was the opinion expressed at the Conference of scientists contributing ideas on restructuring the agricultural sector associated with building new rural areas, adapting to climate change in the context of integration, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), on January 3.

Agricultural production is still heavily manual - Illustration photo

Also attending were Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Phan Xuan Dung and Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh, along with more than 100 scientists working in the agricultural sector.

According to Professor, Academician Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of the Vietnam Plant Breeding Association, our country's agriculture still relies mainly on "muscle". For example, we export 3 billion USD of rice and import nearly the same amount of agricultural products. Vietnam's science and technology relies mainly on the state. The varieties are very good but the production organization is very poor. There is a corn variety that yields more than 8 tons/ha but the production is only more than 4 tons/ha due to lack of water. We are proud of our long-standing rice production, with hundreds of rice varieties but there is no national rice brand.

Talking about the challenges of the agricultural sector, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said: “Small-scale agriculture with 78 million fields is very difficult to integrate. Vietnam is also one of the three countries most severely affected by climate change. In addition, agriculture has not yet formed a pillar in production organization. There are nearly 14 million production households but have not yet formed large-scale commodity production models, so the selling price is not high. Therefore, we really need advice from scientists."

According to delegates at the conference, science and technology are the key factor to restructuring agriculture, building new rural areas and bringing Vietnamese agriculture to new heights.

Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh said that the conference is also an opportunity for the two ministries and sectors to show more determination in restructuring the agricultural sector and to better promote the contributions of scientists. We increasingly need to develop with quality and depth, so we need great contributions from science and technology.

According to scientists, the most important thing in agriculture today is to assess the risks. To develop sustainable agriculture, we must adapt to climate change, restructure and apply high-tech agriculture, pay attention to water resources and have solutions to reduce damage caused by natural disasters. Reorganizing agricultural production for more than 13 million households with more than 80 million farmers towards large-scale commodity production applying technology and sustainable development must have specific orientations on the risks and challenges of natural disasters and integration.

In the coming period, Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said, facing the challenge of climate change, restructuring agriculture based on small-scale households to focus on commodity value chains, there is no other way but to focus on scientific and technological solutions. In which, the role of scientists plays a decisive role, must become the "nucleus" to connect the "4 houses".

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will establish a cooperation mechanism to receive useful, practical, and realistic ideas, topics, and consultation programs from scientists to successfully restructure agriculture and build new rural areas in accordance with the development orientation of the Central Government, the National Assembly, and the Government.

Also at the conference, representatives of a number of research units under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development signed cooperation agreements with a number of large enterprises and corporations in building a production chain, supplying high-quality breeds and linking consumption of pangasius; researching and transferring brackish water shrimp production technology; researching and transferring plant varieties and fertilizer technology...

According to AV/baotintuc