Farmers collect eggs at a chicken farm in Ba Vi District in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA)– The capital city of Hanoi is leading the country in terms of ruraldevelopment and is setting an example for the nation with 294 out of 386 communesmeeting or exceeding the Government’s new rural development standards.
One of the city’s most celebrated achievementswas its success in reorganising agricultural assets. The city is now running154 large rice fields and 101 organic vegetable farms. Re-organisingagricultural land into centralised and large production zones is regarded as acritical step in rural development to take advantage of shared infrastructures,machinery and manpower. However, it has proven to be one of the challengingtasks due to the inherent complexity of its nature, which involves a mirage oflogistics and community-related issues.
In addition, 15 livestock production centreswere established or relocated from residential areas. Nearly 4,000 farms havebeen registered and reported to the city’s authorities with more than a hundredfarms employing high-tech solutions. The city is also home to some 12well-known brands of agricultural products in both domestic and internationalmarkets.
As the city’s rural areas develop, citizens’incomes have been steadily rising. The city’s number of poor households droppedto a record low at less than 2.5 percent based on a report by the city’s censusoffice last June.
“It was a bold and important move, whichrequired a tremendous amount of political will and co-operation between thecity and Hanoi’s residents to complete,” said Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Nguyen Xuan Cuong.
“The city must now focus on developing qualityproducts, building its own brands and improving its policy to encourage andguide businesses to make more investment in agricultural production.”
Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, Deputy Secretary of thecity’s Party Committee, said Hanoi’s objective for 2018-20 was to continuepushing for faster development of rural areas as well as to restructure itsagricultural sector to produce and add even more value to farm products. Hangstressed the need to further streamline and improve the legal process tosupport farming communities, especially with the issuance of land right certificates.
The city’s natural resources andenvironment department has been charged with the task of overseeing some30 districts and communes. Five task forces have been sent to local communitiesto answer questions, collect inquiries and help local authorities to processpaperwork. Obtaining land right certificates, for many farmers, is a major steptowards securing financial co-operation from commercial banks to expand theirproduction capacity.
The city, however, is aware of numerousobstacles that must be addressed. From 2018-20, Hanoi will continue toencourage enterprises to make more investments, preferably in high-tech farmingpractices.
Centralised slaughtering houses and foodprocessing centres are priorities and seen as key to improving the qualitycontrol process and food safety standards.
Poverty eradication remains an objective for thecity, especially in remote areas where the poor household ratio is high, suchas the districts of Ba Vi (4.8 percent), Son Tay (3.17 percent) and Phu Xuyen(3.07 percent).-VNS/VNA
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