Agricultural sector sets higher targets

HA NOI — The agriculture sector should review its plans to improve productivity and quality of agricultural products of high economic value and apply technological solutions more effectively in agricultural production, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Speaking at a meeting to review agricultural activities and plan for 2010, Hung said provinces need to develop economic models suitable with their natural conditions to increase the service proportion in the agriculture sector.

In addition, the sector should consider developing cash crops to take competitive advantage of each region and apply new technologies to form large-scale production areas, Hung said.

Deputy PM asked that the sector begins building a new rural model to complete 19 Government’s assigned targets, which prioritised education and health care, by 2030.

He said that although many achievements had been recorded during the economic down turn, the sector should keep trying to improve the competitiveness of agricultural products and boost the mechanisation of agricultural production.

According to Cao Duc Phat,minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, developing markets would be the biggest difficulty for the sector this year as signs of a global economic recovery remained weak.

In addition, the growing problems associated with climate change and diseases were putting pressure on farming and rural life, he said.

However, the sector would try its best to create jobs and improve the living standards of farmers, Phat said.

The minister said that the sector intended to increase agricultural export revenue to between US$16-16.5 billion or an increase of $1 billion and maintained a growth rate of 3-3.2 per cent this year.

The sector also intended to increase the rate of forest coverage to 40-41 per cent, he said.

In addition, the sector planed to maintain a total cultivation area of 7.3 million hectares, rice output of 39 million tonnes and exports of 5.5 million tonnes. It also intended to produce 5.3 million tonnes of maize on a total area of 1.2 million hectare.

Phat said that the sector would focus on developing comparative advantage products, which have already had large market share and categorising trees and crops based on improving product quality and competitiveness.

Further more, the sector would reorganise its management, invest more in research and development activities and boost technology transfers to farmers, he said.

Phat said that the sector would develop land master plans and build infrastructure and processing zones in rural areas.

The ministry would also create advantages to attract and support businesses in agricultural processing and invest in building better slaughter houses and food processing centres.

Reports from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that agricultural export revenue last year reached $15.5 billion, 6 per cent lower than 2008. Of which, farm products accounted for the largest proportion at $7.9 billion or a 9.5 per cent decrease, year-on-year. Fishery exports decreased by 6.7 per cent to $4.2 billion. — VNS