Developing high-tech agriculture is an important task and also the
inevitable trend of Vietnam’s socioeconomic development strategies in
the context of deeper international integration, the Nhan Dan (People)
online newspaper said.
Practice has proved that an effective
agricultural development model with application of high technology can
foster the economy and bring big profits to producers.
However,
to promote the economic strength of agriculture, it is necessary to have
specific orientations, mechanisms and policies to attract relevant
economic sectors and scientific enterprises to invest in technological
innovation and high-tech applications for agricultural production.
Across
more than two decades of undergoing the Doi Moi (renovation) process,
Vietnam’s agriculture sector has witnessed positive changes and
dramatically shortened the gap to other economies with advanced
agricultural sectors. However, when the speed of international
integration is accelerated, the gap seems to widen.
In recent
years, agricultural exports, the field that seemingly reflects Vietnam’s
agriculture potential most accurately, has generated ‘manipulated’
figures. In 2013, total exports of agricultural and fishery products
reached 19.8 billion USD, accounting for 15 percent of the nation’s
total exports.
In the first quarter of 2014, exports of
agricultural products nationwide reached 6.9 billion USD, up 9.4 percent
compared to the same period in 2013.
However, those flashy
numbers, according to expert assessments, did not truly result from
Vietnam’s success in increasing agricultural productivity and product
quality, but rather reflect that the world market faced supply
shortages. As a result, importers had to pay a higher price and Vietnam
still sold their crops under crude productions.
The reason for this inadequacy is explained as follows.
Currently,
despite the application of advanced technologies to agriculture,
efficiency remains modest. Farmers still rely heavily on experience to
grow their crops. That is the reason for low innovation in agricultural
products, causing great difficulties for the sector in the international
integration process and reducing the competitiveness of agricultural
products on the international market. As there is low productivity
increase in agricultural production, Vietnam accepts selling raw and at
low prices such agricultural commodities as coffee, rubber and rice.
Agricultural
production is still spontaneous and fragmented, with high production
costs. The first evidence for that comes from the cultivation sector.
In
the northern region, it is not strange to realise that each household
cultivates on multiple various sizes of fields, both large and small,
making it hard to effectively apply technological advances in production
and investment designed for a large specialised and concentrated
agricultural production area. It also lays an impediment to the sector’s
industrialisation and modernisation processes.
Meanwhile, the
livestock industry has fallen into dispersion, and a lack of
concentration in production makes it difficult to deal with disease
control, to consume products and to offer materials for the processing
industry. The costs for feeding products and breeds are still high,
while feeding livestock with traditional products is ineffective and
yields low productivity. That livestock are fed with processed feeding
products leads to the high prices of animal source foods, which are at a
higher level in comparison with the sector’s potential.
The
processing industry plays an important role in agricultural production,
but continues to lag behind. Agricultural products are not well
processed or well preserved, leading to lower prices of especially
seasonal products like lychee, longan, catfish – even rice and coffee.
In
particular, international integration also generates an increasingly
fierce level of competition and a high dependence on the global market
within Vietnam’s agricultural sector.
This is clearly manifested
in the dependence on foreign markets when the first and foremost concern
is the consumption market for Vietnamese agricultural products, then
the market for production factors – such as seeding, fertilisers, plant
protection products, and agricultural technologies. Each fluctuation on
the global market will have a great impact on product prices, output,
and quality.
However, it is noteworthy that, despite such
problems, agriculture is still the leading economic platform and is
expected to continue underpinning the entire national economy as it
faces great uncertainty.
Dr. Dang Kim Son, Director of the
Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development,
emphasised that Vietnam’s agriculture continues to play an outstanding
role in helping the country maintain economic growth in difficult
circumstances, especially given the impacts of the global economic
crisis.
But what would be the ‘cure’ for this pillar’s
difficulties? This, too is an interesting question that requires an
urgent answer.
In search of answers, at a conference discussing
rice production and consumption held in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho
in mid-March, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stressed that the Party
and State always pay special attention to agriculture, farmers, and
rural areas, affirming these as the top concern in national strategic
policies.
Agriculture is a foundation, a development axis, and a
strong pillar of the economy. Over the years, the sector has recorded
continuous growth with important achievements, contributing to
nationwide economic stability, reducing poverty and improving the living
standards of the people.
However, the PM also said that
agricultural growth tends to slow down, while agricultural labourers
still face difficulties to earn their living. The reason lies in high
production costs, lower selling prices of agricultural products, and low
labour productivity, he noted.
Therefore, it is necessary to
restructure the country’s agriculture towards sustainable and effective
development, while increasing income and improving living standards for
rural residents and farmers should be associated with the building of
new-style rural areas.
Local authorities should create favourable
conditions to encourage the application of advanced technologies and
machinery in agricultural production in order to reduce costs and
improve the productivity, quality, and competitiveness of agricultural
products. “It is the most decisive work in agricultural restructuring,”
the PM stressed.
Science and technology have been flagged as an
effective solution for agricultural development, yet, the urgent task
should be carried out in the coming future is establishing an effective
roadmap for the sector’s development to help the sector promote its
important role of the economy’s strong pillar.-VNA