Agricultural growth in the first three months estimated to reach 3%

In the first three months of the year, MARD worked actively with other Ministries, departments, and localities to implement a number of solutions to stabilize production, respond to market, weather, and disease fluctuations, and strengthen negotiations to open the market to increase agricultural production consumption. As a result, outputs and yields for numerous major crops grew; the agricultural sector continues to reinforce its position as an economic pillar, ensuring food supplies and necessary commodities while contributing to the country's overall economic development. The industry's growth rate in the first quarter was estimated to be 2.9 to 3% (an increase compared to the same time previous year).

In crops production, by mid-March, the country had planted more than 3.1 million hectares of rice. The harvested area exceeded 1.2 million hectares, with an average yield of more than 64 quintals per hectare (up 0.4 quintals per hectare), resulting in a total harvested output of almost 8 million tons (a 2.1% increase). Planting areas for maize, sweet potatoes, and vegetables grew by 0.8%, 3.9%, and 1.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, soybean and peanut plantings declined by 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively.

Many fruit plants' yields improved dramatically, ranging from 3.1% to 27.1% (including durian, mango, banana, and orange). However, the yields of dragon fruit, pineapple, and lychee fell by 4.7%, 4.1%, and 4.4%, respectively. Most industrial crops had increases in production, including rubber (2.7%), tea buds (0.5%), cashews (1.7%), and coconuts (2.3%), except black pepper, which declined by 2.6%.

Disease management strategies for cattle and poultry herds in livestock farming have proven beneficial, resulting in improved development and greater output of essential products. The production of different kinds of fresh meat topped 2 million tons (up 4.5% over the same time previous year).

The cattle population fell by 0.1%, with about 132,000 tons of fresh meat and 331,000 tons of fresh cow milk produced. The pig population climbed by 3.3%, resulting in more over 1.2 million tons of pork production. The poultry population grew by 2.1%, with approximately 593,000 tons of meat and 5 billion eggs produced. However, the buffalo population fell by 2.5%, with more than 32,000 tons of fresh buffalo meat produced.

As of March 26, there have been no outbreaks of avian influenza or blue-ear pig illness. Within the previous 21 days, there have been 37 outbreaks of African swine fever in 18 provinces, one epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in Gia Lai province, and eight outbreaks of cutaneous and subcutaneous nodular dermatitis in Ha Tinh and Quang Ngai. According to statistics, more than 13,500 animals and poultry perished or were killed over the first three months of the year.

In forestry, the total amount of forest planted nationally in the first three months surpassed 42,000 hectares (a 9.7% increase). The amount of wood taken exceeded 3.6 million cubic meters (a 4.6% increase), resulting in forest environmental service payments of more than 769 billion VND. The amount of woods affected in the first quarter was over 254 hectares (up 0.72%), with over 70 hectares burnt and over 182 hectares removed or damaged.

Total aquaculture output in the first three months was 1.9 million tons, a 2.2% rise (with over 876,000 tons from fishing and over 1 million tons from aquaculture). In terms of consumption of agricultural and aquatic products (AAP), total export turnover was estimated at 13.53 billion USD (a 21.8% increase over the same period last year), while imports reached 10.18 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of 3.36 billion USD (a 96.5% increase).

There were four commodities with export values of more than one billion USD: wood (2.32 billion USD), fruits and vegetables (1.23 billion USD), rice (1.37 billion USD), and coffee (1.9 billion USD).

In rural development and new rural construction (NRC), by the end of March, more than 6,300 communes nationwide (about 78%) had met the criteria for new rural areas (with over 1,800 communes meeting the criteria for advanced NRC and 335 communes meeting the model NRC criteria). 280 district-level units in 58 provinces and cities completed their tasks and met the NRC criteria (accounting for 43.6% of all districts nationwide), with 2 districts meeting the criteria for advanced NRC. 22 provinces and cities had 100% of their communes meeting the NRC criteria, and over 11,300 One Commune One Product (OCOP) products were recognized with 3 stars or above, involving more than 5,800 participating entities.

In basic building investment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has disbursed nearly 2.1 trillion VND in public investment by March 3, attaining 21.6% of the goal (compared to the national average of 13.1%).

Based on this, in the second quarter, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) established a goal of 3.37% increase in the value added of the agricultural sector. The overall export turnover for agricultural and aquatic products (AAP) is estimated to be 14 to 14.5 billion USD.

Speaking at the conference, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan stressed that the first quarter's growth results are strong indications and inspiration for the whole sector to continue its breakthrough in the next period to meet the established targets and pledges.

However, the units are not unduly enthusiastic since all agricultural aspects are uncertain. Instead, there is a need to concentrate on rigorous and extensive market studies, particularly for export markets. Opening up new markets is just the first stage; for Vietnamese agricultural goods to fully dominate the market, all competition aspects from other nations must be assessed, avoiding the subjective viewpoint of being the only participant in the market and disturbing production operations.