The National Agriculture Extension Centre will carry out reforms thatwill enable it to offer more practical support to farmers, its directorPhan Huy Thong has said.
He said a major focus of reform efforts would be to improve the efficiency and utility of grassroots extension centres.
Speakingat a meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 16, Thong said thecentre would step up efforts to transfer advanced technology to farmersso that they can increase production efficiency and earn higherincomes. This would, in turn, help ensure sustainable development of theagriculture sector, he said.
Future training courses for extension workers and farmers would feature more practical sessions, Thong added.
"Our reforms will improve efficiency and attract more and more farmers to extension services," he said.
Withextension centres nationwide set to receive funding lower than lastyear, the agency would review projects and restructure investments,targeting key areas integrated into Government programmes, he said.
Thecentre would also strengthen co-operation with counterparts inASEAN-member nations and organisations in the Republic of Korea,Japan, Israel and other countries to benefit from their experienceand expertise, Thong said.
Ngo Dong Hai, a representativeof the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said at themeeting that the centre had made great contributions to improvingagricultural productivity in Vietnam for the last 20 years.
This has helped the sector record major export successes, he added.
However,with increasing trade barriers in overseas markets, agriculturalextension services should provide greater assistance to farmers so as toimprove quality as well as competitiveness of the nation's agricultureproduce, he said.
Thong said that the centre hadimplemented 42 national projects to transfer advanced technology tofarmer and achieved significant success in improving production of keyagricultural products.
Projects to mechanise rice andsugarcane production, for instance, had helped cut production costs by35 per cent, he said, adding large-scale rice cultivation, rice and fishfarming models and rice drying projects were among other successfulprojects.
In addition, the centre had, in collaborationwith provinces and cities, held many agricultural extension events lastyear, including forums, competitions and fairs, to help farmers applynew production techniques and gain more outlets for their produce.
Thecentre also worked with the media to disseminate information about theGovernment's agricultural and rural policies as well as useful tips oncultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest processing, he said.-VNA
