Long-term planning is needed to improve production and export of farm produce and seafood in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region, Vietnam's rice basket, Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh told a conference held in Can Tho City on July 5.

Ninh said the agricultural sector faced many obstacles because it lacked long-term planning and had failed to tap its potential.

He urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to propose specific measures, both short- and long-term, to help improve and restructure the sector.

The conference was held to discuss ways to improve farm and seafood exports from the Delta region.
"Agriculture plays an essential part in our country's socio-economic development. It is necessary to re-organise the agricultural production on a demand-supply basis, restructuring crop and breeding to increase effectiveness, thus ensuring national food security," he said.

Detailed planning for each particular agricultural area is needed to improve crops, and more linkages between farmers and businesses are also needed.

Ninh said that government ministries should conduct research to set up a fund to offer financial support for agricultural production.

He also urged that hi-tech be applied to the agricultural sector to increase the incomes of farmers and businesses.

Taking the floor, Vu Van Tam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the sector had been facing many challenges since the beginning of this year, including breakout of diseases after the Lunar New Year, severe drought in the central and Central Highlands regions, and salination in the Mekong Delta.

Low demand as well as falling prices of farm produce and seafood products had affected farmers' incomes, he said.

In addition, weak purchasing power in the domestic market had caused large inventories, leading to lower prices, especially for rice and seafood products.

Export of farm produce and seafood fell by 5.4 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Also speaking at the conference, Nguyen Van Binh, governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said the agricultural sector was a priority of the banking system.

Binh said the banking sector would continue to provide credit to support the production and export of rice and seafood in the Mekong Delta, including the programme to buy one million tonnes of rice for the national reserve.-VNA