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Forum on farm economy in southern Vietnam
Farm owners suggested the Government create favourable conditions, including soft loans and mechanisms to protect local products from foreign unfair competition.
They also wished the government to come up with policies in near future to encourage the development of the farm economy, concerning the limitation of land area that one may own, and incentives for farmers to gather scattered land for expansion.
At a forum titled “For development of farm economy in southern Vietnam” held in southern Binh Phuoc province on Oct. 17, participants touched upon several weaknesses of the sector, including small scale, lack of market information and cooperation between farm owners.
Most of farm owners consider themselves as peasants, instead of businessmen, leading to the unplanned and slow development of the farm economy, said Ho Xuan Hung, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Up to 90 percent of farm produce are sold as raw materials at very low prices as a result of the low rate of technology application.
In late 2007, Vietnam had 116,062 farms nationwide, mostly in the Mekong Delta and the Southeast Region, plus another 8,600 added each year.
VNN
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