'Barriers' in land concentration and accumulation
(Baonghean)- Land concentration and accumulation is considered an important solution and has proven to be effective in moving towards commodity production and increasing the value of agricultural production. However, there are still many “barriers” in this issue, both in terms of legal regulations and the people’s “sticking to the fields and keeping the land” mentality.
Get rich from land
For nearly 10 years now, Mr. Ho Sy Quang has become a "famous person" not only in Tho Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district because of his different way of farming, not following the "traditional" path.
After 12 years living abroad, returning to his hometown, he took advantage of the opportunity when the commune had just completed land consolidation and plot exchange. He immediately asked to receive a 20-hectare plot of land in Roc Dua that no one wanted because it was both far away and unsuitable.
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| Concentrated and synchronized production has brought significant profits to Mr. Ho Sy Quang's field. Photo: Phu Huong |
Recalling, he said: I invested nearly 200 million VND to build and renovate the irrigation canal system, demolish the old fragmented fields, build internal roads... By introducing new advanced varieties and synchronous mechanization into production, the land that no one claimed in the past has yielded up to 4 quintals of rice/sao/crop, while the cost and price have been significantly reduced compared to manual production.
From 2013 to 2016, he signed a contract with Bac Giang Seed Company to produce rice seeds, earning over 1 billion VND in net profit per year. Currently, he is producing high-quality commercial rice Huong Viet 3, HN6 according to orders from Khang Long Company Limited (Thai Binh), earning nearly 600 million VND in the spring crop of 2019 alone.
“Thanks to synchronous and unified production, pest management and care are easier, productivity increases by an average of 15-20% while costs are reduced by about 25% compared to fragmented production. After harvesting, the company buys fresh rice right in the field at the same price as dried rice. From the obvious benefits, the surrounding households have cooperated with me, producing and selling products to the company, with an area of more than 10 hectares.”
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| Harvesting rice in the fields of Xuan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Document |
In Yen Thanh district, there are currently about 20 individuals renting land for concentrated agricultural production.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of the District Agriculture Department, most of them have a scale of several hectares or more, many people rent or borrow dozens of hectares but most of them are only in the summer-autumn crop, when farmers are not producing. The whole district currently has nearly 700 farms and family farms, of which nearly 100 farms produce concentrated and effectively.
In a broader view, the trend of land accumulation, farm economic development, and concentration is inevitable in agricultural development. Nghe An currently has nearly 80 farms with contracts with input product supply enterprises; nearly 20 farms with contracts with product processing enterprises; over 100 farms with contracts with product consumption enterprises. At the same time, farms also pay great attention to linking production and product consumption with cooperatives. These are all effective land concentration and accumulation models that need to be developed in the coming time.
Barriers
Hamlet 10, Hung Thong Commune, Hung Nguyen District has 20.5 hectares of rice fields, but this summer-autumn crop, over 8.5 hectares in Dong Loi area have been abandoned because there is no water for planting. However, according to Mr. Le Van Toan, Hamlet 10 Chief, if individuals or businesses want to rent land, it will be very difficult because people still have the mindset of keeping the land, afraid of losing the land, and even afraid that the tenant will exploit it improperly and damage their fields.
Especially since most people still produce spring crops for food, leaving their fields fallow for the summer-autumn crop, it is quite difficult to mobilize. "In particular, many households will have many demands and conditions, which are difficult to reach a consensus on. If just one household does not agree, it will be difficult," Mr. Le Van Toan frankly expressed. "If businesses come in, they must sign specific contracts, and at the same time do a good job of propaganda and mobilization so that people understand that the land is still theirs, then there will be a possibility."
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| Dong Loi Field of Hamlet 10, Hung Thong Commune, Hung Nguyen District has become a place for grazing cattle. Photo: Phu Huong |
Known as a famous “agricultural enterprise” in Yen Thanh district, Vinh Hoa Science and Technology Company Limited currently has over 100 hectares of rice production land in Yen Thanh and Dien Chau districts. However, according to Mr. Phan Van Hoa - Director of the company, to have and “keep” this area is quite difficult. “Most of it is public land, bad and far away, no one wants it.
To be able to put into rice production, each land area of 5-7 hectares or more must spend at least 1 billion VND to renovate the infrastructure system. However, the lease contract is only signed for 5 years, which is very unstable, so I dare not invest further even though the need and ability are both there. Currently, some other districts are also calling me to lease land for production, but I still do not dare to decide.
Besides, if you want to rent land from people, it is also very difficult because "hundreds of people, hundred opinions", it is extremely difficult to unify and concentrate, while with the current trend, the number of farmers abandoning their fields without production will increase.
Therefore, in order for businesses to feel secure in investing in improving the efficiency of agricultural production as well as not wasting land, local authorities need to create the most favorable conditions for businesses in carrying out administrative procedures, acting as an intermediary, connecting the two sides, and at the same time paying attention to propaganda so that both businesses and people clearly understand the regulations and policies on borrowing and leasing land," Mr. Phan Van Hoa expressed.
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| The high-tech canal planting project was implemented in Nghia Son commune, Nghia Dan. Photo: PV |
However, it can only develop to a certain limit because land resources must be reserved for the people.
The second form is that farms and ranches rent public land from the locality, receiving land 64. Although the scale is quite large and can apply synchronous mechanization, the biggest disadvantage is that there is no legal status on land, when disputes arise it will be very complicated, and the land lessees do not dare to make real investments. Third, households will negotiate to rent or borrow land from each other for each crop or longer periods.
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| This summer-autumn crop, Phu Vinh hamlet, Do Thanh (Yen Thanh) abandoned 100% of the rice fields. Photo: Phu Huong |
“Along with the efforts of the State focusing on making appropriate changes in land issues, relevant sectors and localities need to increase propaganda to change and raise people's awareness on this issue. Local authorities, especially commune level, must always pay attention, accompany, and create conditions for businesses and individuals to lease land for concentrated production, avoid waste and improve the efficiency of agricultural land use.”
