Three major issues to note for farmers today
(Baonghean) - Nghe An Newspaper had a dialogue with comrade Nguyen Quang Tung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Chairman of the Provincial Farmers' Association on a number of issues related to agricultural development and farmers.
Reporter:Dear Comrade! Agricultural economy plays an important role in the economy and the peasant class is the main subject of agricultural economy. However, this field still has many limitations in safe production and production according to the value chain. What is your assessment of the above issue?
Comrade Nguyen Quang Tung:Agriculture is an extremely important material production sector, providing food with increasing quantity and quality for consumption in the province, domestically and for export. Agriculture and farmers have been increasingly showing positive development with the introduction of machinery into production from land preparation, to planting, caring for, and harvesting many crops, especially rice, sugarcane, and tea; associated with promoting the application of science and technology on crops and livestock; actively forming joint ventures and associations to form value chains in production, processing, and product consumption.
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| Comrade Nguyen Quang Tung and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union visited the fish sauce processing model in Nghi Hai ward (Cua Lo town). Photo: Hoang Minh |
Besides the positive changes, it is also frankly admitted that in the agricultural sector, farmers are still facing 3 emerging issues related to ensuring food safety and hygiene, production according to value chains and the situation of farmers abandoning their fields. The lack of safety in agricultural products still occurs in the situation of "vegetables, tea in 2 beds, pigs in 2 pens".(one to eat, one to sell - PV).
The cause of this problem is that along with the awareness of producers, the demand for goods requires a rapid increase in production speed, so the problem of food safety also follows. On the other hand, agricultural processing facilities have not mastered the safe use of pesticides; leading to the source of processed materials that are difficult to ensure food safety. Along with food safety, the problem of linking to form a value chain from production, processing to the product consumption market is still limited.
The situation of farmers abandoning their fields is also a very "hot" issue.
Especially in some products, some localities have built value chains, however, the "loyalty" of farmers to enterprises is not really close and sustainable; there is a situation where when the outside buys at a higher price, farmers are willing to sell outside instead of selling to enterprises as signed. The association in the form of cooperatives and cooperatives is also at a modest number compared to the production sector. In addition to the two issues mentioned above, the situation of farmers abandoning their fields is also a very "hot" issue.
Reporter:So, what is the role of Farmers' Associations at all levels in solving the above issues in the past and in the future, comrade?
Comrade Nguyen Quang Tung:It can be affirmed that the above issues are the common responsibility of the entire political system, in which the Farmers' Association is also aware of its responsibility to proactively take part through the issuance of the Resolution on propaganda, production and trading of safe products in 2016 and is currently continuing to implement the project "Farmers' Association propagates, mobilizes, guides farmers to produce, trade and consume safe agricultural products, period 2020 - 2023". This is considered the number 1 task of Farmers' Associations at all levels from the province to the grassroots.
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| The green squash model is effective on Nam Dan land. Photo: Mai Hoa |
Accordingly, in recent times, Farmers’ Associations at all levels have focused on propaganda, making farmers aware that if they want sustainable production, consumers who buy their products must require clean and safe production; on the contrary, if production is “chaotic” and does not ensure food safety, consumers will boycott the products they produce. In addition to the economic impact due to unsold products, farmers themselves are also affected in terms of health due to direct contact with pesticides.
Farmers' Associations at all levels have also been involved in guiding farmers on safe production methods and methods through consulting, training, and organizing vocational training classes such as safe vegetable growing; orange growing, biosafety chicken and pig raising and VietGAP standards. Because in reality, there are farmers who do not know and do not understand how to grow, raise, and process safely.
Along with that, from the Farmers Support Fund with a total of 62 billion VND, the Provincial Farmers' Association also prioritizes lending to implement models with high scientific and technological content; safe production models and models with linkages and cooperatives. Thereby, to raise awareness and consciousness of farmers in safe food production; at the same time, from these models, to spread and change production habits for farmers in general.
The Association also guides and supports farmers in consuming safe products through clean food stores or supplying them to collective kitchens in agencies, units, businesses, schools, restaurants, hotels, etc. When consumers are interested in food safety products, production will certainly follow that trend; especially in the integration "playground", when goods from other countries have better quality, it is certain that if farmers are slow to change, they will fail, and no one will buy their products.
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| Farmers in Thanh Chi commune (Thanh Chuong) apply the method of preserving guava by wrapping it in bags. Photo: Mai Hoa |
Another important task that has been, is and continues to be implemented by Farmers' Associations at all levels is to propagate, mobilize and guide farmers to participate in professional farmer associations and branches; thereby contributing to forming and nurturing the sense of solidarity and cooperation among farmers. And currently, Farmers' Associations at all levels are continuing to implement the project "Farmers' Association participates in developing cooperatives in agriculture, period 2019 - 2023" to shift from fragmented, small-scale production in the form of "each household doing it on their own" to collective business to share lower inputs, stable outputs and higher selling prices. And from doing business in cooperatives, it will also help households to supervise each other to ensure food safety. In 2019 alone, Farmers' Associations directly guided the establishment of 57 cooperatives.
To have a long-term fundamental solution, the State needs to issue a clear land accumulation mechanism, so that those who have land to lease can feel secure and those who are leased can boldly invest in production.
Regarding the situation of farmers abandoning their fields, the Farmers’ Association and local authorities have actively promoted farmers to effectively change their crop and livestock structures or lease or borrow land to avoid wasting land resources. However, to have a long-term fundamental solution, the State needs to issue a clear land accumulation mechanism, so that those who have land to lease can feel secure and those who are leased can boldly invest in production.
Reporter:Currently, the Covid-19 epidemic is breaking out and affecting many economic sectors. Could you tell us, in this context, what tasks has the Farmers' Association focused on implementing to limit the epidemic?
Comrade Nguyen Quang Tung:It can be said that the Covid-19 epidemic is affecting many economic sectors, especially trade, services, industry... In particular, the agricultural sector is not much affected. On the contrary, agriculture is considered a "pillar", a savior of the economy in difficult conditions for some sectors, contributing to ensuring social security.
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| Anh Son farmers harvest tea. Photo: Thai Hien |
Therefore, together with local authorities, the Farmers' Association is actively promoting farmers to step up spring crop care, prevent pests and diseases on crops and livestock, ensuring a successful spring crop this year to compensate for other economic sectors. In particular, during the Covid-19 outbreak, the circulation of agricultural products from other countries to the domestic market has also been "frozen"; this will be an opportunity for domestic agricultural products to "reign" if farmers know how to rise up, dare to innovate and overcome old ways in agricultural production.
In addition to the efforts of farmers themselves, Party committees and authorities at all levels also need to have solutions to promote the role of farmers in promoting safe agricultural production, creating value chains, and improving the efficiency of agricultural production. The Provincial Farmers' Association is also directing Farmers' Associations at all levels to increase support for farmers such as training and guiding science and technology through Facebook and Zalo; at the same time, coordinate with businesses to support farmers in borrowing fertilizers to pay at the end of the crop...
Reporter:Thank you very much, comrade!