Discussing solutions to overcome difficulties in forestry and irrigation in Gia Lai

Difficulties in conversion and the situation of encroachment on forest land

On August 1, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan and his delegation had a working session with officials of Gia Lai province to remove difficulties and obstacles related to the field of agriculture such as forestry. irrigation projects in the province.

At the meeting, Mr. Duong Mah Tiep, Vice Chairman of Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee, said that the province's agricultural sector continues to develop quite well, with an average growth rate of 3.1% in the period 2021 - 2023; focus on developing organic agriculture and applying high technology to production.

Besides the advantages, Gia Lai is also encountering difficulties and obstacles, especially in the field of forestry and irrigation projects.

Regarding the conversion of rubber plantation areas, Mr. Tiep said that from 2018 to now, in addition to the area of ​​more than 12,000 hectares of dead and underdeveloped rubber trees, nearly 4,500 hectares have continued to be added. Businesses want to convert ineffective rubber projects to other projects to effectively use land resources, generate revenue, and overcome economic difficulties.

Meanwhile, the area of people occupying forestry land managed by agricultural and forestry companies, The Protection Forest Management Board and Commune People's Committees is about 76,000 hectares.

Faced with the above difficulties, Gia Lai requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to have specific instructions on changing forest use purposes; plant replacement forests when converting dead or underdeveloped rubber areas to invest in other projects. At the same time, the province is allowed to convert dead and underdeveloped rubber areas to other projects in accordance with socio-economic development planning, land use planning and actual local conditions.

Gia Lai also asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to consider and propose to the Government to handle the problem of people occupying forestry land that has been present in the area.

Mr. Trieu Van Luc, Deputy Director of the Forestry Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that Gia Lai needs to follow the direction of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in 2022. Accordingly, the province needs to carefully review the total dead rubber area, thereby classifying and determining the origin of forest land; Before the rubber forest was formed, was there a natural forest or was it bare land? Because when converting forest land to purposes other than forestry, it must comply with the provisions of the Forestry Law.

Specifically, if the purpose of using a planted forest is changed, a replacement forest must be planted with an equivalent area; for natural forests, replacement forests must be planted three times the converted area. Besides, Gia Lai also needs to determine a specific plan to use this dead rubber area. At that time, the province, ministries and branches will work together to discuss solutions.

Irrigation works are effective

Regarding Ia Thul water reservoir (Ia Pa district), Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to pay attention to synchronous investment from the focal point to the infield canal system to carry water for production when the project is completed and put into use. At the same time, during project implementation, it is recommended to phase investment in a synchronous canal system from the main canal to the infield canal to soon put each partial project into operation.

Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee also proposed to arrange investment to upgrade and expand Ben Mong bridge, the road leading to the project's irrigation area, and the management and operation road combined with rural roads to facilitate people in the irrigation areas of Ia Pa and Krong Pa districts.

Besides, people in Krong Pa and Ia Pa districts also have a great need for clean water. Therefore, it is recommended that in the design and construction of the project, consider the design of a water intake valve to build a connection to a clean water treatment plant for people.

For the Ia Mor irrigation project, Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee recommends prioritizing funding allocation in the Ministry's medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 to invest in building branch canal systems and gravity irrigation pumping systems. At the same time, build an intra-field canal system to ensure synchronization from key works to in-field, and a closed irrigation system.

Mr. Le Hong Linh, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction Management (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has given very clear instructions. Specifically, the Ia Thul irrigation project must be adjusted in a multi-purpose direction, not only serving the agricultural sector but also other industries. Issues about clean water for daily use or investment in rural transportation in irrigation areas... are already in the plan. In the future, when there is a detailed design, we will coordinate with departments, branches, branches and districts to add these contents to the plan.

For Ia Mor irrigation, we have created a water warehouse with more than 200 million m3 and have completed construction of 100km of irrigation canals to serve more than 9,000 hectares of crops. There are currently more than 4,700 hectares that need to be converted to forest land, which the province has also proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. After review, the Ministry of Agriculture and Development agreed not to convert forest land but will find new irrigation areas. In the near future, the Ministry will report this issue to the Prime Minister to maximize the functionality and effectiveness of Ia Mor irrigation.

Concluding the meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that with more than 12,000 hectares of rubber trees dead and ineffective, Gia Lai province recently issued a document requesting permission to convert to growing fruit trees and agricultural crops for socio-economic development. That is not convincing. We need to have a complete set of documents to evaluate more thoroughly why rubber died and what to do when it died. If we convert more than 12,000 hectares of rubber, what trees will be planted effectively?

"After preparing serious documents and determining the real situation of rubber dying and underdevelopment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will accompany the province to overcome the above difficulties”.

Regarding the issue of land occupation, Minister Le Minh Hoan said that with the provisions of the Forestry Law, the problem of land occupation in the Central Highlands cannot be resolved. Accordingly, it is necessary to place it in the historical process of the Central Highlands, from the time when people migrated freely, encroached on forest land as well as the equitization of agricultural and forestry companies.

"We need to be more serious, the whole political system needs to get involved, looking at local reality to have better proposals on handling people's occupation of forest land", Minister Le Minh Hoan shared.

Minister Le Minh Hoan said that for the Ia Mor irrigation project, the Ministry will coordinate with the People's Committees of Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces to report to the Prime Minister to allow adjustment, expansion of irrigation areas and arrange investment funds to build and complete the canal system in the medium term 2026 - 2030, ensuring the promotion of the proposed project goals and tasks. The Ministry and Gia Lai province have agreed to find another irrigation area to maximize the efficiency of the Ia Mor irrigation lake's capacity.