Bottlenecks must be removed to boost agricultural development

Delegates to the 13th National Party Congress (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The development of cooperatives should receive greater attention during the agricultural restructuring process, according to Le Minh Hoan, a delegate from the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap.

Speaking on January 29 on the sidelines of the 13th National Party Congress, Hoan said that the draft documents of the congress have made it clear that small-scale production which has lingered on for years, along with the sharing of farming land for infrastructure and urban development as well as industrial and service activities, has led to the shrinkage of farming areas.

The documents highlight the need to focus on boosting the cooperative and collective economy with the core being cooperatives and collaborative groups, he said.

The re-positioning of cooperatives in the agricultural restructuring should be placed at a higher position with more policies to make cooperatives part of the household economy and a factor connecting small-scale producers with the large market through businesses.

Over the years, big steps on improving the operational efficiency of cooperatives have been made, along with the improvement in the mindset of Party and government officials in the cooperative and collective economy, said Hoan.

However, he said, the draft documents also point to shortcomings in the management capacity of cooperatives as well as the connectivity between cooperatives and businesses, along with the need to lift the collective economy with the centre being cooperatives to a worthy position in the agricultural restructuring.

“I think this is a solution for us to get rid of the small-scale agriculture that has lingered on for years,” said Hoan.

He stressed that high quality agriculture has been successfully developed in many provinces such as Son La, Kon Tum and Dong Thap.

“If local Party organisations and administrations can see the role of the cooperative and collective economy in connectivity and investment and give greater support to farmers, cooperatives will thrive in the future in a stronger and more sustainable manner. This is also a motivation for the greater connectivity of small-scale production facilities.”

Hoan asserted that by so doing, the circular agriculture or information technology application will focus on the collective economy through cooperatives, which is expected to activate the cooperation among farmers to create a stronger connectivity among farmers, cooperatives and enterprises.

Regarding issues that need to be settled in boosting the development of a high technology agriculture, Hoan said that it is necessary to create more added values in each stage of a production chain, including the application of science and technology and the optimisation of the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, thus meeting the demands of markets covered by free trade agreements (FTA) that Vietnam has signed.

Hoan stressed the need to switch the objective of agricultural sector from productivity to quality, while focusing more on food safety to meet technical requirement of the FTAs.

Dong Thap delegate Le Minh Hoan speaks to the media on the sidelines of the 13th National Party Congress (Photo: VietnamPlus)

He also underlined the significance of the new mindset in the sharing agriculture and the smart agriculture.

Regarding solutions to get rid of the abuse of pesticides, Hoan held that it is necessary to change farmers’ habit from using inorganic pesticides to biological ones, thus forming an ecological agriculture and building a prestigious trademark for the Vietnamese agricultural sector.

On the stronger investment by many big firms in agricultural sector, Hoan described it as a good sign in the development of the sector, as agriculture is a risky area with a slow recovery of capital.

However, he said, along with the giant investors, it is also necessary to pay greater attention to cooperatives as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises investing in agriculture, as with the high quantity, once connected together, they will create strong effects to the innovation and startup movement in the sector in the future.

Besides, businesses and young people with rich knowledge and interest in agricultural trading, processing, packaging and e-commerce are expected to create community effects that are no smaller than those by giants, thus occupying a certain market segment of their own, held Hoan./.