Minister unveils solutions to boost agricultural growth

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will forge stronger agriculture production growth in the second half of this year through three major measures, stated minister Cao Duc Phat at a press conference in Hanoi on July 1.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will forgestronger agriculture production growth in the second half of this yearthrough three major measures, stated minister Cao Duc Phat at a pressconference in Hanoi on July 1.

Through the end ofthis year, the ministry will review the value chains of promisingproducts to expand markets and production, supporting farmers andenterprises, he said.

For example, he said, theministry will continue assisting farmers in producing high quality ricefor the domestic market while closely watching developments of the worldmarket and collaborating with Mekong Delta localities to guide farmersin expanding the autumn-winter crop area.

Theminister explained that the autumn-winter rice crop produces higheryield and better rice, thus fetching good prices compared to riceharvested from other seasons.

Secondly, the ministrywill roll out comprehensive measures to improve the businessenvironment, creating favourable conditions for agricultural businessesand boosting value chains of major products, said the minister.

He revealed that the ministry will simplify and minimiseadministrative procedures while applying information technology andonline services to serve businesses.

Meanwhile, a special committee has been set up to review fees and charges, he said.

The third solution the minister mentioned is removing obstacles tomaintaining and expanding export markets to help farmers sell theirproduce.

He held that the main barrier forVietnamese agricultural products in foreign markets is technical andadministrative difficulties. In the second half of this year, theministry will also pay more attention to seeking markets for the animalbreeding sector, he added.

According to the GeneralStatistic Office, GDP growth for agro-forestry-fishery sector in thefirst six months of this year was 2.36 percent, lower than the 2.9percent figure from the same period last year. Meanwhile, productionvalue of the whole sector was estimated at 489 trillion VND (22.4billion USD), a 2.41 percent rise year-on-year.

Cultivation, which accounts for over 50 percent of the sector’sstructure, recorded the lowest growth at only 1.08 percent, pulling thegrowth of the whole sector down, he asserted.

Along with extreme weather early this year, the sector also faced market difficulties, he noted.

So far this year, decreases were seen in both sales and volume in fiveof 12 major agricultural products, namely tea, rubber, rice, coffee andaquatic products. Total exports of the sector in the first six monthsof this year were 14.41 billion USD, a drop of 2.8 percent from the sameperiod last year.-VNA

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