Outdated agricultural cooperative business models need to be replaced inorder to bring farming products into local supermarkets andinternational markets, earning farmers higher income in the face ofgrowing competition.
President of the VietnamFatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan made theremark at a conference to discuss policies for agricultural cooperativeshosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) inHanoi on April 10.
The MARD recorded around10,450 agricultural cooperatives last year operating in farming, animalhusbandry, aquaculture, forestry, salt production and agriculturalservices, accounting for 50 percent of the total cooperativesnationwide. They were mostly concentrated in the Red River Delta, NorthCentral Coast and Northeast regions.
Most of thecooperatives focus on supplying input materials for their members, suchas varieties, equipment and fertilizers, and irrigation services whileonly 9 percent engaged in product distribution.
The ineffective performance led to persistently low incomes with justover one million VND (46.24 USD) per month in several areas.
There are also insufficient linkages between farmers and businesses.Even with successful links in the production of rice, beef, sugarcane,coffee and pepper in the Mekong Delta, only 10-15 percent of the totalfarming output was distributed by the cooperatives.
The current trend of developing agricultural value chainsnecessitates an increased role of cooperatives as a bridge betweenfarmers and distribution businesses.
Arepresentative from a cooperative in northern Lao Cai province urged theMARD to set VietGAP as the compulsory standard for agriculturalproduction inside cooperatives and trade promotion groups to helpfarmers sell their products.
Under the Politburoresolution on developing new-style cooperatives in agriculture, fisheryand trade villages, the MARD in coordination with the VFF and theVietnam Farmers’ Union is discussing with local authorities andoutstanding farmers in the Mekong Delta the establishment of pilotcooperative models, first of all in rice farming.
Meanwhile, pilot new-style cooperatives in animal breeding will beset up in some northern and southern provinces based on the successfulmodels of the Quy Hien cooperative in the northern mountainous provinceof Lao Cai and the Dan Phuong cooperative in Hanoi.
Guidelines for the establishment of new-style fishery cooperatives will also be issued in June this year.-VNA
President of the VietnamFatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan made theremark at a conference to discuss policies for agricultural cooperativeshosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) inHanoi on April 10.
The MARD recorded around10,450 agricultural cooperatives last year operating in farming, animalhusbandry, aquaculture, forestry, salt production and agriculturalservices, accounting for 50 percent of the total cooperativesnationwide. They were mostly concentrated in the Red River Delta, NorthCentral Coast and Northeast regions.
Most of thecooperatives focus on supplying input materials for their members, suchas varieties, equipment and fertilizers, and irrigation services whileonly 9 percent engaged in product distribution.
The ineffective performance led to persistently low incomes with justover one million VND (46.24 USD) per month in several areas.
There are also insufficient linkages between farmers and businesses.Even with successful links in the production of rice, beef, sugarcane,coffee and pepper in the Mekong Delta, only 10-15 percent of the totalfarming output was distributed by the cooperatives.
The current trend of developing agricultural value chainsnecessitates an increased role of cooperatives as a bridge betweenfarmers and distribution businesses.
Arepresentative from a cooperative in northern Lao Cai province urged theMARD to set VietGAP as the compulsory standard for agriculturalproduction inside cooperatives and trade promotion groups to helpfarmers sell their products.
Under the Politburoresolution on developing new-style cooperatives in agriculture, fisheryand trade villages, the MARD in coordination with the VFF and theVietnam Farmers’ Union is discussing with local authorities andoutstanding farmers in the Mekong Delta the establishment of pilotcooperative models, first of all in rice farming.
Meanwhile, pilot new-style cooperatives in animal breeding will beset up in some northern and southern provinces based on the successfulmodels of the Quy Hien cooperative in the northern mountainous provinceof Lao Cai and the Dan Phuong cooperative in Hanoi.
Guidelines for the establishment of new-style fishery cooperatives will also be issued in June this year.-VNA
