|
Gov’t monitors crop conversions
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong spoke to Dau Tu (Viet Nam Investment Review) about farmers switching to and from growing rice.
What do you think about farmers often switching from rice to other crops and vice versa?
In the past rice was not as lucrative as other crops or animal husbandry and so many paddy fields were used to grow other crops.
Since rice prices rose globally and stand at high levels now, the trend of converting inefficient lands into rice paddies is returning.
In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, around 1 per cent of area under paddy was converted. If that area is converted into paddies again, there will be no adverse effect on the region’s or country’s overall agricultural zoning plan.
Every time this happens, farmers have to bear losses. What are the responsibilities of local administrations?
Local administrations must investigate and carefully consider the reasons that farmers made over their paddies in the first place.
But now the conversion of inefficient farms into rice paddies must be encouraged. The fact is that local administrations at all levels must guide farmers on how to do it in an efficient manner.
Rice prices have stopped rising now. Will farmers again turn their backs on rice?
The fact that farmers convert their paddies into other farms is not because they run after the market as many people think. They are only adapting themselves to the market situation.
To avoid mass conversion, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has the responsibility to show them which lands can be turned into rice paddies and which should remain under other crops or as animal farms since the latter is more lucrative than rice.
Vietnam will not fear a rice glut. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development encourages farmers to increase the area under rice.
What is the basis of your opinions?
After 2020 Vietnam’s population will be around 130 million. To secure food for the population, the country needs to have 3.8-3.9 million ha under rice.
It now has around 4.1 million ha and a population of 87 million. So the country remains a leading rice exporter.
Prestigious international organisations forecast the global food crisis to continue for at least another 10-15 years. So farmers can feel assured about growing rice.
But farmers do not think so. They only think rice is not a profitable crop. Will farmers grow other crops in their rice fields when rice prices fall?
Rice farming is inefficient because the paddies are small and scattered.
Farmers can make a profit of VND10-15 million per ha every six months. Farmers with large farms can achieve higher efficiency.
To prevent farmers from frequently switching to other crops, local administrations need to counsel them on agricultural zoning plans.
VNN
|
