Difficulties in implementing policies to support agricultural production development
(Baonghean.vn) - In recent years, Nghe An has implemented many policies to support the development of agricultural production, initially bringing new production thinking, building a concentrated, commodity agriculture. However, in order for the policy to truly come into life, it is necessary to resolve problems that are not suitable for reality.
Not meeting actual needs
In 2021, Mr. Bui Dinh Hoi - owner of Hung Long 1 Farm in Hamlet 3, Nghi Hung Commune (Nghi Loc) invested in building a greenhouse with an area of 2,000 m2. A year later, he continued to build another 3,000 m2greenhouse, growing black grapes, tomatoes, melons, vegetables, tubers, fruits of all kinds.
From the province's support program in Resolution 18 and the district's greenhouse support program, at the end of 2022, he received 200 million VND in support to build 2,000 m2greenhouse. Up to now, Mr. Hoi has invested more than 3 billion VND in construction, of which the greenhouse alone is 2,000 m2nearly 1 billion dong, including house and irrigation system.
In addition to money borrowed from relatives, he currently has a bank debt of over 1.5 billion VND. The initial capital is too large, investing in a modern infrastructure system is still affected by the weather, self-consumed products often fall into the situation of good harvests and low prices... In the plan, he and his wife will invest in building an additional 2,000 - 3,000 m2Another greenhouse to have enough area for concentrated, rotating, rolling production, but he still cannot implement it due to difficulties in capital.
As the first enterprise to invest in building a greenhouse in the district, in 2019, when Phu Thinh Agricultural Service Cooperative (Hung Thanh commune, Hung Nguyen) built a greenhouse of 1,100 m2With a value of nearly 500 million VND, the enterprise has received 250 million VND from the district, along with over 55 million VND from the province's Resolution 18 policy. However, the damage caused by natural disasters and floods has so far been almost unrecognized.
Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Director of the Cooperative said: In 2020, right from the first year of production, storms and floods swept away many areas of crops, causing damage of over 100 million VND. In 2022, also due to floods, the Cooperative suffered damage to many areas of strawberries, melons and automatic irrigation systems, with total damage of about 150 million VND. However, apart from 10 million VND in support from the District Fatherland Front Committee, the enterprise has not yet received support from any other source.
Not only large-scale production enterprises face many difficulties, but also small-scale producers. Ms. Hoang Thi Loan in Hamlet 6, Thanh Huong Commune (Thanh Chuong) said: Her family had 2 hectares of tea that were replanted a few years ago, after liquidating the previous batch of tea that was damaged by drought. Currently, 14 hectares of tea continue to burn, forcing them to destroy and replant. Previously, due to the inadequate power system, they could not invest in an irrigation system, which led to the tea burning. As soon as the area had a reliable power line, the family invested in building an irrigation system. However, the investment in the irrigation system alone was more than 100 million VND; the sunburned tea areas had to be dug up and transported by truck to clear the ground for replanting, and the initial investment in fertilizer and seeds was quite large. The support amount only met a very small part of the demand.
Thanh Huong commune has more than 255 hectares of tea. From 2019 to now, drought has occurred frequently in the area. In the two years 2019-2020 alone, 416 tea-growing households suffered damage due to drought, of which more than 25 hectares of tea were damaged by more than 70% and had to be destroyed and replanted; more than 31 hectares were damaged by 30-70%. In 2 years, the amount of support for damage caused by drought to tea was over 160 million VND. Ms. Dinh Thi Hang, an agricultural official of the commune, said: In the commune, the number of households benefiting from support policies is very small. The tea fields are large, the terrain is remote, and the water source is difficult, so investing in an irrigation system is very expensive. However, the source of irrigation support is limited, so the commune only selects households with large tea areas. Up to now, in the commune, only 5 households have benefited from the support policy from Resolution 18 with a total amount of 40 million VND, while the whole commune has several hundred tea growing households.
For example, Mr. Nguyen The Hoi's family in Hamlet 6 has nearly 1 hectare of tea. There were times when tea prices dropped, income was unstable, while drought burned many areas and had to be replanted. However, because the tea garden area was not enough to receive support, he had to save up, dig a well, and build a small sprinkler irrigation system worth 20 million VND. According to him, although it did not really meet the demand, it helped the tea plants withstand drought and prevent them from dying from fire.
Mr. Le Dinh Thanh - Vice Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee said: In recent years, the province's policies have helped people and localities have access to and apply scientific and technological advances, focusing on intensive investment to increase economic value per cultivation unit. However, for the policy to be truly effective and reach the people in the fastest and most effective way, it is still modest compared to actual requirements. For example, the irrigation policy for industrial crops. Thanh Chuong is a key district for tea in the province, and this is also one of the main crops of the district, helping to solve jobs and income for hundreds of households and thousands of workers in the area.
In recent years, due to the impact of climate change, drought and heat waves occur frequently and severely, so the need for an irrigation system for tea is very urgent. Thanh Chuong district has more than 4,780 hectares of tea; the area irrigated by sprinkler system is now 2,015 hectares, but of which, the irrigation area supported by funding according to the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council from 2019-2022 has only reached 101.51 hectares with a support amount of 830 million VND.
We hope that the Provincial People's Council will allocate funds to support tea-growing households so that they can enjoy the policy if they invest. At the same time, to create favorable conditions for people to easily access and implement the policy, we request that the province direct relevant departments, branches and sectors to guide implementation in the simplest and most effective way."
Regulations "difference" from practice
Implementing the policy to support agricultural and rural development according to Resolution No. 18/2021/NQ-HDND of Nghe An Provincial People's Council, in 2022, the actual funding allocated in the province reached more than 66 billion 237 million VND; the implemented funding was more than 55 billion 461 million VND. After more than 01 year of implementation, the support policies have had many positive impacts, helping people expand raw material areas, increase productivity, quality and efficiency of crop production.
In 2022 - the first year of implementing Resolution No. 18/2021/NQ-HDND, Yen Thanh district has implemented 03 policies including: Support for seeds and support for land preparation for newly planted fruit trees (orange and grapefruit trees) for the communes of Xuan Thanh, Dong Thanh, Nam Thanh, Tay Thanh; support for purchasing transplanters, seeders, and seedling trays for Bac Thanh General Agricultural Service Cooperative; support for irrigation of industrial crops and fruit trees for 5 communes of Dong Thanh, Xuan Thanh, Ly Thanh, Minh Thanh, Thinh Thanh. The total support amount is nearly 559 million VND.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, in implementing support policies, there are still some unreasonable issues that are difficult to implement in practice. For example, the policy of supporting 40% of the cost of microbiological products in pig and chicken farming is very difficult to implement, because according to regulations, households and individuals must register through the Commune People's Committee, the Commune People's Committee registers with the Provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine to make estimates, propose price announcements from competent authorities, make implementation contracts, etc. Therefore, although the commune wants to register for implementation, the prices have not been approved and must wait for the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine to synthesize and approve in the whole province, making it very difficult to deploy and implement.
"I propose that the Provincial People's Council allow adjustments to the implementation method, and authorize people to purchase on their own based on the price approval of the Department of Finance, while the documents still ensure invoices and documents for purchasing goods according to regulations," Mr. Nguyen Van Duong shared.
The representative of Yen Thanh district also added more about the shortcomings in implementing the policy to support intensive farming of white-leg shrimp. According to current regulations, the shrimp pond must be "located in the shrimp farming planning area". This is a new model developed in the district, while the agricultural development planning of Yen Thanh district has been approved by the province since December 21, 2018, so in order for the policy to come into life, it needs to be adjusted, allowing implementation when the subject is "located in the aquaculture planning area", helping white-leg shrimp farmers in the area to enjoy the support policy mechanism.
Not only the province's policies, but also in localities, there are integrated programs to support the development of agricultural production. For example, in Nghi Loc district, in 2022, 5 greenhouse models were supported (of which more than 776 million VND was supported by the province and more than 776 million VND from the district); the district also supported the construction of traceability codes for 8 communes with an amount of 33 million VND; supported the construction of a 9.18 ha VietGAP vegetable model in Nghi Thuan commune with an amount of more than 27.5 million VND. Or in Thanh Chuong, from integrating programs, the district has supported the construction of models, brands, labels, trade promotion, consumption of OCOP products, specialty products and products with potential for development and replication of the locality.
However, according to Mr. Phung Thanh Vinh - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the implementation, there are still some shortcomings. The work of propagating and disseminating policies to people is still limited, especially in remote, mountainous and border areas; the budget for implementing some policies is still limited or guaranteed but not balanced with actual needs, such as irrigation policies for industrial crops and fruit trees, microbiological preparations for organic fertilizer production... leading to difficulties in the implementation process in some localities; Cooperative staff are almost not properly trained, so they face many difficulties in implementing policies and preparing payment records...
Agricultural production receives support from many other policies of the province such as: Policy to encourage the development of cooperation and association in production and consumption of agricultural products according to Resolution No. 13/2018/NQ-HDND; Policy to develop rural industries according to Resolution 06/2019/NQ-HDND; Support policy in building new rural areas in the period of 2021-2025 according to Resolution No. 24/2020/NQ-HDND; Policy to support agricultural production to restore production in areas damaged by natural disasters and epidemics according to Decision 48/2017/QD-UBND...
