Lawmakers concerned about bottlenecks in agricultural restructuring

Hanoi (VNA) - NA deputies, during the fifth session of the 14th-tenure National Assembly on May 25, expressed their concern about outstanding problems in the agricultural sector, such as farm produce oversupply and price drop, and support policies for farmers.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong gave explanations on some of the issues to the NA.

According to the minister, the restructuring of groups of agricultural products at national, provincial and communal levels, has prove effective with encouraging outcomes despite great challenges. He cited as examples some national products such as milk and aquatic products, or key products of provinces such as litchi of Bac Giang.

However, with millions of farm households, and nearly 70 million small plots of land, the minister said that it will take time for Vietnam’s agriculture sector to transit to a modern agriculture.

“The deputies are quite right about the problems,” the minister said, acknowledging that the linkage in production, processing and consumption is weak.

Another bottleneck is the processing industry which has not matched agriculture production, which resulted in the stockpile of products when supply is abundant.

Cuong also mentioned difficulties facing Vietnam in exporting farm produce, stressing that to attract more investment from enterprises in agriculture, it is necessary to have policies on land, especially land accumulation.

He said the Government is directing ministries, sectors, especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to coordinate with localities and economic sectors to remove the bottlenecks, through promoting administrative reform and international cooperation.

Deputy Le Thanh Van of Ca Mau pointed out the fact that Vietnamese farmers produce goods with little regard of the balance between supply and demand.

He suggested building a comprehensive database system on geographical indications, production capacity, consumption volume, and prices of farm produce to help deal with the problem, stressing that this is the responsibility not only of the MARD, but also of relevant ministries and sectors.

While praising efforts made by the MARD in recent time, deputy Tran Hoang Ngan of Ho Chi Minh City noted that the ministry also needs to look more closely at the question “Are farmers the beneficiary of added value in agriculture?”

"I hope that the Minister thinks about intermediary costs, which “eat up” farmers’ labour”, Ngan said, stressing that this is a matter to be taken into account in the implementation of agriculture restructuring.-VNA