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Enterprises asked to buy up residual salt
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Xuan Hung on Thursday asked enterprises in the country to buy up all the remaining salt harvest.
The order was given at a meeting to review the results of the Prime Minister's Decision 161 issued in 2008 on salt industry planning and development in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan.
The price of salt will be set at VND500 (US$0.026) per kg in order to ensure that farmers receive 30 per cent profits according to Government instruction.
Hung admitted the difficulties the salt industry was facing, including sourcing the finances necessary to buy salt from farmers in 20 provinces and cities, low prices and a lack of production and storage facilities.
He noted the reasons for the problems, which included a lack of a general plan for the industry and inadequate management. Income from the industry has remained modest and local authorities have not paid enough attention to it.
The Northern Food Corporation has pledged to buy salt from farmers as required by the Government with priority given to provinces with large stockpiles, including Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Bac Lieu and Khanh Hoa.
Leaders of the State Bank of Viet Nam also said it would ask commercial banks to offer loans and continue to perfect their policies and credit mechanisms on agriculture and the salt industry.
Hung said his ministry would work on plans for the salt industry, focusing on provinces with favourable conditions for developing production like Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Khanh Hoa.
Local authorities were also asked to instruct farmers to apply technology in salt production to improve quality and productivity. Storage facilities should also be built.
For other provinces, local authorities were asked to ensure that stable development policies were in place and organise training for farmers in order to help them shift from producing salt to other jobs.
The ministry would also consider the establishment of a Salt Production Association to help co-ordinate enterprises and farmers.
vietnamnews
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