Agricultural products have no outlet: The responsibility lies with the agricultural sector!

Answering questions before the National Assembly, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that supply exceeds demand and weak market organization leads to the need to "rescue" the pig herd.

In today's question and answer session (June 13), 68 National Assembly deputies registered to question the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong

Opening the questioning session with the "commander" of the agricultural sector, delegate Ton Ngoc Hanh (Binh Phuoc) raised issues related to the agricultural product consumption market, high-tech agricultural development, difficulty in accessing preferential credit packages, and asked Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong about solutions.

The head of the agricultural sector said that the main reason leading to the "chorus" of good harvest but low prices, good prices but bad harvest is due to the huge production volume while the output is not yet well organized.

Supply exceeding demand, processing separated from production, weak market organization, lack of connection between breeds, livestock, slaughter, etc. have led to the crisis of agricultural surplus as in the recent past, Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong explained.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development pointed out that Vietnam's agriculture is currently still based on small scale, low labor productivity, and vulnerable to the challenges of climate change and international integration.

Answering the question of delegate Nguyen Son (Ha Tinh) about the planning and forecast for the development of the livestock industry, Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that in recent times, production capacity has grown too rapidly. In more than 10 years, meat alone has increased by more than 3.6 times... A huge volume in a short period of time while Vietnam's food basket has been restructured, reducing pork portions.

Mr. Cuong admitted that in the three stages: production, processing, and market organization, only the first stage was done well, while the last two stages were very weak, so the surplus crisis occurred.

Regarding food market organization, it is the weakest link, the Minister assessed. Currently, Vietnamese pigs are only exported to 3 countries, with 20,000 tons of suckling pigs a year, mainly to the Chinese market through unofficial channels.

Continuously having to "rescue" the pig herd in recent times when the pig price is at its lowest in history.

Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hong (Binh Duong) argued: The Minister's explanation in response to Delegate Son regarding the basis for planning pig herd development is not convincing. Throughout the answer related to planning and handling large herds, the management role is absent. Such an answer does not see the role of planning, adjusting warnings, and having appropriate policies to promote product consumption.

Delegates from Binh Duong expressed their concerns about the output of agricultural products. "Fruit trees will soon need to be rescued because people have invested a lot in them. Could the Minister please give his opinion?" Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hong asked.

Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong explained: "The train has 3 carriages, only one carriage is done well, 2 carriages are not done well, the responsibility belongs to the Agriculture sector, no one else."./.

According to VOV