Open up a new stage for Vietnam - Cuba agricultural cooperation

On May 15, a bilateral meeting between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture of Cuba took place in Hanoi. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam welcomed Deputy Minister of Agriculture Maury Hechavarria Bermudez and the delegation of the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture during its visit to Vietnam.

In recent years, leaders of the Party and State of the two countries have actively promoted and strengthened the bilateral cooperative relationship. In particular, Deputy Minister Bermudez highly appreciated Vietnam's experience in organizing, forming and developing the national agricultural extension system from central to local levels.

“Cuba has just approved the National System Development and Formation Policy. The government has encouraged the implementation of agricultural extension work for many years, but we have not been able to establish a methodical system like Vietnam. We highly evaluate your country’s model of developing an agricultural extension network. I believe that we will have a more detailed form of cooperation in the field of agricultural extension between the two sides," said the Cuban Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

Vietnam - Cuba cooperation programs and projects have helped Cuba acquires many high-quality seeds of important crops. In particular, thanks to the rice cooperation project phase 5, Cuba has been able to develop domestic certified varieties to further strengthen agricultural production. Cuban farmers have now been provided with certified high-quality seeds and put these into mass production. Through the projects, Cuba has received many new farming techniques, machinery for agroproduction and equipment for research.

However, the agricultural industry of Cuba still has to face many difficulties and challenges, especially in terms of agricultural inputs. Deputy Minister Bermudez hoped that the two sides would actively coordinate to attract potential Vietnamese businesses interested in investing in rice production. Cuba is ready to create conditions on legal mechanisms as well as mechanisms for granting investment credits for businesses, ensuring practical benefits for both countries.

Regarding this issue, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said, “I would like to note that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development only supports the transfer of science and technology. In the future, the participation of enterprises is required. Cooperation and farmers are not enough. We need a connection between experienced businesses, particularly those specializing in seeds and fertilizers.”

The leader of Vietnam's agricultural industry suggested that Deputy Minister Maury Hechavarria Bermudez discuss more deeply with Cuban leaders, considering having preferential policies, giving special priority to rice production as this is a commodity that ensures food security in Cuba. This is extremely vital, especially in the context that food security has become the world’s number one concern after a long period of disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the occasion of the event, Deputy Minister Maury Hechavarria Bermudez shared some praise-worthy results from the cooperation project with Vietnam to plant high-quality Robusta coffee in Cuba. “I wish to highlight some impressive figures stem from the impact of the Rubusta coffee project. When the project was yet to be implemented, the productivity of coffee grown in Cuba could only reach 250 kg per ha. With the help of the Vietnamese side, we were able to acquire some high-quality Vietnamese Robusta coffee. The exhibition model areas recorded a coffee yield going up to 2 tons per ha. And with our strong cooperation, the numbers can even go many times higher than coffee yield when we had not implemented the cooperation project with Vietnam”.

Having achieved certain successes in the rice cooperation project, the Cuban Deputy Minister of Agriculture proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development consider the second phase of the coffee cooperation project, thereby expanding the coffee growing area in Cuba.

Previously on May 12, Deputy Minister Maury Hechavarria Bermudez and the delegation paid a visit to Ho Chi Minh City and had a meeting with Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc. 

Based on the potential as well as the common cooperation policy agreed by the leaders of the two sides, Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc said that Ho Chi Minh City is ready to cooperate and support the transfer of high-quality agricultural production technology with Cuba.