Hanoi (VNA) – In the nation’s new development era, the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU) is stepping up efforts to empower farmers and tap their creativity, contributing to the goal of building a strong, prosperous, civilised and happy country in line with orientations set by the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).
In an interview on the sidelines of the Congress, Luong Quoc Doan, a member of the Party Central Committee and President of the VFU Central Committee, highlighted the vital contributions of Vietnam’s peasantry throughout the country’s process of nation-building, development and renewal. Farmers, he said, have increasingly affirmed their role as a key driving force and central pillar in agricultural development, the rural economy and new-style rural construction, underpinning rapid and sustainable national growth.
After more than four decades of renewal, the Party’s sound policies on agriculture, farmers and rural areas have ushered in a new development phase. Farmers have taken the lead in restructuring crops and livestock, while production has shifted from a quantity-driven approach to one focused on value creation. Linkages along value chains, the application of high technology, and the expansion of green, organic and circular agriculture, together with safe and quality-oriented production, have gathered pace. Large-scale commodity production zones have emerged, featuring major national products such as rice, coffee, cashew nuts, pepper, tea, pangasius and shrimp, transforming production methods and driving the growth of processing industries and related services.
A growing number of farmers have shown strong initiative and innovation in adopting new production models, delivering high efficiency and setting examples in production and business. Over the past five years, households earning more than 500 million VND (19,000 USD) a year have tripled, while those with annual incomes exceeding 1 billion VND have doubled compared with the previous five-year period. Many have achieved rapid breakthroughs, generating revenues of tens of billions of VND and contributing to the emergence of a more professional farming class.
These advances have helped propel comprehensive agricultural development, cementing agriculture as a pillar of the national economy and safeguarding food security. Vietnam has transitioned from a country once marked by shortages to an upper-middle-income developing nation and one of leading global exporters of agricultural products, now reaching nearly 200 countries and territories. Agricultural export turnover hit a record 62.5 billion USD in 2024 and climbed further to 70.09 billion USD in 2025.
Beyond economic gains, farmers have played a crucial role in preserving Vietnamese cultural values, safeguarding national identity, strengthening social cohesion, and contributing to national defence and security.
Looking ahead, the VFU aims to enhance farmers’ capacity as key economic actors in agricultural and rural development, foster a new generation of well-rounded, civilised and socially responsible farmers, and further inspire patriotism, resilience, intellectual capacity, national self-reliance, aspiration for advancement and the pursuit of legitimate prosperity.
The Union will continue to improve the quality and effectiveness of farmers’ movements, expand professional Farmers’ Union chapters and groups, and intensify advisory and support activities in digital transformation, food safety standards, “green–clean–traceable” production, brand building and agricultural product “passports”.
Additional priorities include establishing farmers’ clubs, building plastic-waste-free communities, developing “bright, green, clean and beautiful” rural areas, and promoting traditional cultural values in tandem with rural tourism development.
At the same time, the VFU will strengthen communication and guidance to help farmers better exercise grassroots democracy, actively participate in Party and government building, reinforce the great national unity bloc, and expand substantive democracy so that farmers are informed, consulted, involved, supervised and empowered. The Union will also renew its operational methods in line with the new organisational apparatus model, while upholding its core values to continue effectively implementing the Party’s guidelines and policies./.
