There are only five years left for Vietnam to prepare for full integration into the World Trade Organisation (WTO). At that time, high-tech agricultural products will be the key force of Vietnam to compete with the rest of the world. However, to date, these special products are still rarely seen and they have not found a footing on the marketplace because private businesses pay no heed to. So, what are solutions to this matter?
Cao Duc Phat, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: The application of high-tech in agriculture enabled us to produce some products with higher productivity and quality. However, the high-tech application remains very slow because of the shallow involvement of the private sector.
High-tech shows sample only
Currently, a very few agricultural enterprises are certified high-tech application and they locate in some localities only. Nghe An province has a lot of agricultural businesses applying high-tech to agricultural production and products. However, it is a huge challenge to deploy this model nationwide because we lack a suitable one for a backward agriculture and herd-sentiment farmers.
Phan Dinh Trac, Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, cited a number of herd-sentimental cases. When TH asked for 37,000 ha of land for a milk cow rearing project, he contacted them and transferred the land to them. However, many farmers do not want to transfer land immediately. They only handed the land when authorities of Nghe An explain value and benefit of the project.
He added that we must apply high-tech to have a developed agriculture. This requires the deep involvement of private business sector. To achieve this, we need to address such major issues as capital, product output and personnel training. To bring high-tech to agriculture, we must focus on resolving three major tasks: Forming large farming areas, accumulating land by long-term leasing, and reclaiming land from poor-performing businesses.
Solution?
Asked about competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products when Vietnam will fully integrate into the WTO in a few years to go, Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong said that the outlook is bright. We are not afraid to compete with other countries. Their product quality may be higher but prices may be more expensive because of high transport fees. Meanwhile, Vietnamese agricultural products are cheaper, more productive and more qualified. Rice is an example. Nonetheless, he expressed his concerns over livestock husbandry outlook. He stressed that if we do not apply high-tech to animal husbandry, we will lose many ground.
Nguyen Van Bo, Director of Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, said: To pace up high-tech agricultural application, we must first change our mindset. The government needs to perform its role in defining strategic markets for each commodity and sign national commitment to reduce risks for companies. Information systems for market forecasting and analysis need to be updated. Mr Bo said the best public - private model is the State supports, farmers give land to businesses and businesses stand out to produce and sell products. Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong agreed on this standpoint and insisted that the private sector necessarily gets involved in high-tech agriculture because State-funded high-tech agriculture projects are unsuccessful.
Mr Phan Minh Nguyet, General Director of Hanoi Agricultural Investment and Development Co., Ltd (Hadico), said: We should you the other high-tech agricultural model: The State invests - enterprises manage. If this model is successful, we will shift to the new model: Enterprises invest - enterprises manage. In the near term, we need to create models and projects to be applied on a broad scale and convince farmers to adopt high-tech applications in agriculture.
As for land for high-tech agricultural application, Thai Huong, Chairwoman of TH Group, said: This is a right time to give land managed by State plantations and left uncultivated to enterprises. We should not touch land owned by farmers at the moment. Enterprises taking up land given up by State plantations should recruit workers used to work on the land. Farmers should be allowed to buy stake on farms owned by enterprises. These policies are successfully applied in building pastures in Nghe An province.
In addition, the State should issue more supporting policies on land limit, leasing term, land accumulation, tax, credit, risk insurance and personnel training. Farmers should be allowed to keep the stake in enterprises after they contribute their land. Credit for purchasing machinery and equipment should not be applied on annual basis but on seasonal basis.
X.S
Vietnamese
