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.

Through the end of this year, the ministry will review the value chains of promising products to expand markets and production, supporting farmers and enterprises, he said.

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

The minister explained that the autumn-winter rice crop produces higher yield and better rice, thus fetching good prices compared to rice harvested from other seasons.

Secondly, the ministry will roll out comprehensive measures to improve the business environment, creating favourable conditions for agricultural businesses and boosting value chains of major products, said the minister.

He revealed that the ministry will simplify and minimise administrative procedures while applying information technology and online 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 to maintaining and expanding export markets to help farmers sell their produce.

He held that the main barrier for Vietnamese agricultural products in foreign markets is technical and administrative difficulties. In the second half of this year, the ministry will also pay more attention to seeking markets for the animal breeding sector, he added.

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

Cultivation, which accounts for over 50 percent of the sector’s structure, recorded the lowest growth at only 1.08 percent, pulling the growth 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 five of 12 major agricultural products, namely tea, rubber, rice, coffee and aquatic products. Total exports of the sector in the first six months of this year were 14.41 billion USD, a drop of 2.8 percent from the same period last year.-VNA