Effective disease control to meet year-end food demand

Key disease control and prevention tasks

Regarding primary objectives for the remainder of 2024, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized that the agricultural sector should prioritize disbursing public investment to improve sector infrastructure, thereby creating supply chain linkages from production to market. An important subsequent task is disease control and prevention for crops and livestock.

“With uncoordinated production areas, extensive borders, and active trade, disease prevention for both terrestrial and aquatic animals, as well as crops, is a crucial task,” analyzed Deputy Minister Tien.

Deputy Minister Tien noted that the African swine fever has affected multiple countries around the world, and Vietnam has experience managing the disease since 2019. Notably, the disease recently occurred in several regions nationwide, partly due to ineffective vaccination efforts.

“Within the same region, farms that did not vaccinate their livestock herds experienced outbreaks and pig deaths on a large scale, whereas vaccinated farms were unaffected,” Deputy Minister Tien reported following a recent inspection in Hoa Binh province.

In response, the Prime Minister issued a directive directed at the control of African swine fever. Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has enhanced communication efforts to raise awareness among the livestock farming community.

“Based on production results from the last seven months, we can be confident in our food supply until the end of this year. In August, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will hold a conference on pig farming development for late 2024 with the aim of maintaining food supply,” the Deputy Minister added.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien also emphasized that with advancements in agricultural science and technology, the sector will focus on translating research results into production in order to create high-quality, competitive products with significant added value across all fields.

Encouraging business participation in supply chains is another priority for the sector. On the other hand, the Ministry will focus on trade promotion and market expansion activities that target developing strong brands to reflect the volume and quality potentials of Vietnamese agricultural products.

Regarding climate change and natural disasters, Deputy Minister Tien stated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has provided accurate forecasts and directives during saltwater intrusion events. As a result, saltwater intrusion only affected a small number of regions that failed to comply with the warnings. Furthermore, the Ministry’s recommended technical measures has minimized the impact of saltwater intrusion on rice production.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in coordination with various local governments and farmers, has reduced the damage caused by natural disasters, thereby maintaining both production volume and quality while preserving market stability,” emphasized Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.

Over 34 billion USD in export revenue

According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total revenue from agro-forestry-fishery exports reached 34.27 billion USD in the first seven months of 2024, marking an increase of 18.8% compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Revenue from imports totaled 24.85 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of 9.42 billion USD, and an increase of 60% compared to the corresponding period in 2023.

Notably, the total revenue from exports amounted to 5.11 billion USD in July 2024, an increase of 18.2% from July 2023. Among this group, key agricultural products accounted for 2.62 billion USD (an increase of 25.2%), forestry products 1.4 billion USD (an increase of 15.8%), fishery products 880 million USD (an increase of 13.2%), and livestock products 47.4 million USD (an increase of 9.3%).

Over the seven-month period, most export product categories saw significant growth, leading to an overall export revenue of 34.27 billion USD. Accordingly, the revenue from agricultural exports reached 18.21 billion USD (an increase of 23.4%), forestry products 9.41 billion USD (an increase of 21.1%), fishery products 5.29 billion USD (an increase of 7.3%), and livestock products 288 million USD (an increase of 4.8%).

The United States, China, and Japan remain as the three largest destinations for Vietnamese exports. Exports to the United States accounted for 21.1% of the total, an increase of 21.6%; China 20.5%, an increase of 11.3%; and Japan 6.6%, an increase of 4%.

In July 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development focused on guiding local governments to accelerate the rice planting and harvesting process; providing instructions for the care and harvesting of early summer-autumn rice; and addressing disease control for crops and livestock.

Additionally, the Ministry has bolstered measures for preventing forest fires, promoting stable aquaculture development; and encouraging strict compliance with regulations regarding anti-IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing.

After the first seven months of 2024, agro-forestry-fishery production and business activities maintained a relatively stable growth, with effective disease control measures for crops and livestock to minimize damage.

This achievement indicates a steady supply of goods, particularly food products, for domestic consumption and export. Market facilitation measures and new contract signings have yielded positive results, contributing to an increase of 18.8% in total export revenue.