Farm Economy Boosts Economic Structuring

Vietnam has to date developed as many as 150,000 farms of various kinds, contributing to the economic structuring and development of valuable crop plants and domestic animals to create concentrated and intensive farming areas, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

 

The farms covering more than 900,000 hectares of land throughout the country currently have a combined commodity and service value of VND70,047 billion (US$4.4 million).

 

Each farm is estimated to generate VND980 million (US$62,025) per annum, six or eight times higher earnings fetched by farming households.

 

Livestock farms account for 11.4 per cent of the country’s total farms, aquaculture farms 29.8 per cent, annual tree farms 28.6 per cent, perennial tree farms 18.7 per cent and others 11.5 per cent.

 

Over the past five years, the proportion of livestock farms has tended to decrease while aquaculture farms have increased.

 

The development of farms has helped create more jobs and bring higher incomes for farmers. In 2005, the sector employed 769,800 laborers, twice as many as 2001.

 

Farms in the country mobilized a total capital of VND16 trillion (more than US$1 million), doubling 2001 figures. Sixteen per cent of the sum was lent by local banks, 3.6 per cent from other sources, and 8.3 per cent from their own coffers.

 

However, there exists a paradox that just a few local farms have been performing well despite appropriate investment, said an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

 

Almost all farms are now incurring problems in the consumption market as up to 90 per cent of their products are being sold in their raw form at low prices.

 

The inexperience and limited knowledge of farm owners is considered the major reason for the ineffective operation of the majority of local farms.

 

The official also said that further direct supports from the government, focusing on incentive policies on tax and land leasing, will be needed for the long term development of local farms.

 

Additionally, the government is also urged to pay more attention to boosting the application of biotechnology in creating new animal and plant varieties, increasing the growth rate of trees, and preserving farm produce.