In 2018, the value of agricultural, forest and aquatic products of Yen Bai grew 4.2% year on year to VND3,912 billion, ranking 7th among 14 northern mountainous provinces. The province has managed to form large-scale agricultural areas and link production with processing and consumption markets, thus achieving some impressive outcomes in the Agriculture Restructuring Scheme.
Carrying out the Prime Minister's Decision 899 on agricultural restructuring, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised the provincial government to implement the “Agricultural Restructuring Scheme towards enhancing added value and sustainable development in 2015 - 2020”. By tapping local potential strengths, natural conditions and social and economic conditions, the Department has divided the scheme into eight selected, well-prepared component projects, including livestock husbandry, aquaculture, citrus fruit trees, highland tea, maize-rice cross farming, cinnamon tree, bamboo shoots, and hawthorn.
Mr. Tran The Hung, Director of Yen Bai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said, “During the implementation of the Agricultural Restructuring Scheme, Yen Bai province faced a lot of difficulties and challenges caused by slow economic development, uneven intellectual standards, limited quality of rural human resources, underdeveloped rural infrastructure system, fragmented and scattered agricultural production that results in hardships to accumulate land for commercial commodity production development to focus on intensive farming, slow application of scientific and technical progress to production practices and methods, especially in organic agriculture and high-tech agriculture.”
With reasonable support mechanisms and policies, with appropriate professions, crops and livestock selected for each region and locality, with the consensus and determination of the entire political system and farmers, and with the participation of the business community, Yen Bai province’s agricultural restructuring has obtained initial positive results to create agricultural and rural products of high quality and high added value, establish many new effective production models, and engage more high-tech agricultural enterprises to invest in the province.
Currently, the province has formed some large-scale high-value commodity production areas, such as 3,000 ha of high-quality rice 15,000 ha of maize and 500 ha of mulberry, 8,500 ha of fruit trees, and 8,000 ha of tea. Besides, some processed products have already had consumption markets, including 70,000 ha of cinnamon over 4,000 ha of Bat Do bamboo shoots, over 8,000 ha of hawthorn, and 180,000 ha of timber. Some well-branded products are certified with intellectual property protection such as geographical indications: Van Yen cinnamon and Muong Lo rice; collective brands: Chiem Huong Dai Phu An rice (Van Yen), Tu Le sticky rice (Van Chan), and orange (Luc Yen and Van Chan); certified trademarks: Suoi Giang Yen Bai tea, Mu Cang Chai hawthorn and VietGAP-directed pig breeding.
Notably, the province has successfully attracted various economic sectors to invest in agriculture and rural areas, with typical investors coming from South Korea, Japan, large-scale Vietnamese businesses, and local farming households, which largely focus on such sectors and industries as cinnamon oil processing, wood processing, tea processing, Bat Do bamboo shoot processing, rabbit farming and high-tech swine farming. The province has witnessed clear changes in production methods based on market planning and demand, scientific and technological advances applied to production to improve productivity and labor efficiency. These have laid a premise for promoting production development in value chains.
From initial successes of the Agricultural Restructuring Scheme, in the coming time, Yen Bai province’s agricultural sector will continue to adhere to development policies on agricultural restructuring issued by central and provincial authorities.
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