MARD's head reaffirms determination to realize agricultural export target of USD 44 billion

Without hesitation, "up the woodland, down to the sea"

“The agricultural sector is confronted with enormous difficulties and problems in the last months of 2021 and the first months of 2022. Though I believe that any agricultural staff is willing to go up the forest and down to the sea, to the padding field and even the pigsty, ” Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien announced at a press conference of Q3 on October 5.

The MARD leader's attitude of "up to the forest, down to the sea" was concretized in the report on the execution of the MARD plan for the first nine months of 2021. The agro-forestry-fishery sector has maintained its growth pace, confirming its position as the country's socioeconomic backbone.

According to the General Department of Statistics, added value rose by 1.04 percent in Q3 2021 compared to the same quarter previous year. Which saw a 2.83 percent rise in agricultural production and husbandry, a 2.15 percent increase in forestry, and a 4.89 percent decline in fisheries.

After nine months, the whole industry's value-added growth rate reached 2.74 percent, with agriculture increasing by 3.32 percent, forestry climbing by 3.3 percent, and fisheries growing by 0.66 percent, contributing 23.52 percent to the economy's overall growth.

Numerous production and commercial objectives within the agricultural sector were met or surpassed the plan. Several remarkable results are worth noting, including the following: poultry meat production was estimated at 1,402.7 thousand tons, up 4.3 percent; fresh cow's milk production was estimated at 856.6 thousand tons, up 11.0 percent; eggs production was estimated at 12.8 billion eggs, up 4.3 percent; and the area of concentrated plantations was estimated at 175 thousand hectares, up 7.6 percent.

Exports also showed signs of improvement, with overall agro-forestry-fisheries exports projected at USD 35.5 billion, up 17.7 percent year on year.

In Q3, various provinces and cities throughout the country implemented a social distancing order in accordance with Directive 16,  hammering the socioeconomic environment, production, and business, including agriculture.

To address the issue, MARD established two Working Groups, one headed by Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam and another by Deputy Minister Tran Duc Tien. Due to the organizations' decisive and prompt involvement, the Southern area was able to stabilize food supply sources, while the Northern region maintained product circulation, ensuring the new production cycle and standing ready to assist blockade provinces and cities.

Along with increasing output, the agricultural sector pushes for the development of sophisticated and contemporary models that are consistent with global trends such as responsible agriculture and circular agriculture, while also speeding the process of rural area development.

Exercise caution when it comes to post social distancing

To accomplish the Party, State, and Government's goals, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that the agriculture sector must proactively detect and improve market forecasts, as well as react quickly to emerging problems.

This follows the announcement on September 16 by the Dongxing District government in Guangxi Province, China, suspending import clearance for dragon fruit over the Dong Hung bridge area for seven days, from September 15 to 21, due to the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 virus on Vietnamese dragon fruit packaging and cardboard containers.

China has warned five more nations and requested a halt to the practice. The Vietnamese agricultural sector, on the other hand, reacted quickly and successfully, assuring Chinese partners that the dragon fruit cargo from Tien Giang – where there had been no F0 cases – was safe.

Lessons from dragon fruit were one of many points on which the MARD should focus its attention throughout the process of reestablishing production after the epidemic. Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that consumption of food and foodstuffs has tended to decline in recent weeks.

According to the agriculture sector's head, companies are presently confronted with four major challenges: capital; products circulation; ensuring "three on-sites"; labor shortages caused by people returning to their hometowns; and vaccine progress.

For the fisheries sector, 26 fishing ports presently have an F0 rating, making sea opening more difficult. Over 2,100 of the more over 5,700 agricultural businesses are processing plants, but only approximately 30% of them remain operational, mainly in a limited capacity.

According to Tien, bottlenecks occurred mostly in localities, since local companies had vast operating areas, requiring participants to travel many locations to connect the raw material region with the processing area, but each province and city handled Covid-19 differently.

The agriculture sector sets many ambitious goals for 2022 in the last months of 2021. To be specific, the GDP growth rate of the entire industry is between 2.8 and 3% per year; the total export value of agro-forestry-fisheries is approximately USD 45.5 billion USD; the proportion of communes meeting new rural standards is approximately 73%; and the national forest cover rate is stable at 42%, improving forest productivity and quality.

"At all levels, from central to local, we must transition quickly and forcefully from agricultural production thinking to agricultural economic thinking. The agriculture sector is dedicated to expediting talks to extend agroforestry and fisheries export markets to EU nations under the EVFTA Agreement, as well as to assisting businesses in gaining access to information about export market policies "Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung, Deputy Director of the Directorate of Fisheries, said at the meeting that on October 27, the heads of MARD and the Directorate would convene an online meeting with the EC to review recent efforts to remove Vietnam's yellow card.

"I was certain that Vietnam would avoid a red card. Simultaneously with efforts to preserve this year's "yellow card," the fishing industry will put a stop to the practice of fishing boats breaching foreign seas "As Hung said.

According to Hung, the Government's strategy is to delegate inspection and supervision of illicit and unreported fishing to the grassroots level (communes and districts). In such spirit, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien traveled straight to Thanh Hoa in September 2021 to check on IUU. Two weeks following the agricultural leaders' conference, all fishing boats in this area have been equipped with satellite positioning systems.