City farmers set to hone skills overseas
HCM CITY (VNS) — The People’s Committee of HCM City has approved a six-year (2013-18) project to send farmers abroad for study tours and training courses.
With a total investment of over VND4.7 billion (US$222,700), the project aims at making the city’s New Rural Areas programme a success and contributing to the plan for restructuring its agriculture sector.
The project is also expected to strengthen the city’s integration with the regional and global communities, introduce advanced farming technologies and expand overseas markets for the city’s farm produce.
Under the project, between 2014 and 2015, the city will send 100 to 125 farmers and managers from farms and agricultural co-operatives in HCM City to Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and China for overseas study.
The study tours will focus on how to build new rural areas; models of economic co-operation in agriculture; commercial promotion; and measures to link farming with product consumption.
They will also cover topics like the building of brands for farm produce, using advanced methods to produce plant varieties and breed animals.
City authorities have asked the HCM City Farmers’ Association to establish a management board for the project with the association’s Chairman as the head of the project management unit.
HCM City has 12 districts engaged in agricultural production involving over 90,000 households. — VNS