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Farmers still unable to purchase agriculture machines
The demand stimulus package for agriculture and rural development has been applauded by farmers. However, experts have warned that if the package cannot be strictly controlled, it will only benefit foreign-made products, and not support local farmers and local production.
Eager to purchase machines
Tran Phuoc Vinh in Nui Sap town of Thoai Son district in An Giang province related that he and other farmers in the same hamlet were so happy when hearing about the loan package.
However, what worries farmers is that machine prices remain overly high, as most are imported products. Nguyen Van Be in Binh Hoa commune of Chau Thanh district in An Giang province, who cultivates 1,000 sq m of field, related that he always lacks workers in the high harvesting season. Be said that he and his wife want to purchase a combine harvester to settle the problem.
However, Be still cannot purchase a machine because imported products are unaffordable for him, while he is not satisfied by made-in-Vietnam products.
“I visited several combine harvester festivals, but I could not find any perfect machine, while the machines still have high prices,” he said.
“I think that the state should assist local machine producers, so that they can upgrade production lines and reduce sale prices. If so, domestically made agriculture machines will have a firm position in Vietnam’s market.”
Le Van Nhon, a farmer in An Hoa commune of Chau Thanh district, who has 15,000 sq m of field, also related that he dreams of owning a combine harvester. Nhon said that he still cannot save up enough money to purchase a machine. “I will purchase a machine if I can get preferential loans,” he said.
Imports or locally-made products?
Vo Hung Anh from the Vietnam Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Post-harvest Technology said that it is a good policy to provide loans for farmers at 0% interest. However, he thinks that it is necessary to increase the loaning level, because the price of a combine harvester now is no less than VND100mil, while a used cultivator is also VND100mil.
According to Anh, the state should help local machine producers to make products which have high quality and sale prices affordable for Vietnamese farmers. There are now only a few agriculture machine workshops in Vietnam, and most of them are small scale workshops which cannot fulfill big orders.
Statistics show that there are some 3,500 combine harvesters across the country, including 2,000 imported from China. While the demand for the machines is very big, very few farmers can afford them.
The state has been supporting the import of farm machines (with no import tax) under the assistance package managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Experts have pointed out that the support has only been benefiting imports. Meanwhile, local machine producers and assemblers have not got any support from the state. The assemblers have to pay high taxes of up to 20% for engines and machine parts they import to assemble domestically.
Production and assembly shops, which should be exempt from taxes, now have to bear many kinds of taxes, which experts believe will not encourage investment.
Experts have also warned that if the state cannot effectively control the loan programme, it will only benefit importers, and not farmers, who really need support.
VietNamNet, NLD
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