Vietnam’s 4.0 agriculture in face of the ‘4 no’s’ trap

That is the statement of Mr. Ho Xuan Hung, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chairman of the Vietnam General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development Vietnam regarding visions for the development of agriculture and rural areas in the next period. Vietnam Agriculture News would like to share his heartful opinions for readers to discuss.

So that no one is left out

The Government has recently issued Decision No. 150 on the 2021 - 2030 Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy - vision to 2050. I am most glad that through the Strategy we have reevaluated the very important role and position of agriculture and rural areas.

Vietnam's agriculture in the present context not only follows the new consumption trend and thrives in exportation but also elevates the domestic market through clean and safe agricultural products.

It is a fact that the 4.0 revolution leaves no one out, and those who fall behind will be considered old-fashioned and put themselves at a disadvantage. Vietnam has been catching up with the agricultural revolution 4.0, but we must be faster and stronger than ever.

Some world experts I met told me that Vietnamese farmers lack professionalism, and it’s true. Most production activities of farmers depend on agents of pesticides, fertilizers, plant varieties and livestock. They lack proactiveness.

In the production link chains, even the cooperation of farmers with farmers, farmers with cooperatives, and farmers with enterprises are quite loose. Therefore, the State needs to have a very clear and fundamental retraining program for them to become real professional farmers.

What is the “4 no’s” trap? How to avoid it?

In the past time, we have discussed a lot about the terms "innovative city" or "innovative ward and commune", but the content of those concepts remains unclear until now. We need to clarify that, otherwise people will be confused and bewildered. Even there are things we think we have achieved, but actually nothing is going anywhere.

I often say in conferences and seminars that we are moving towards 4.0 technology, but unfortunately Vietnamese agriculture falls into the "4 no's" trap.

The first is that there are no resources. There is a paradox that people with money have no land, and people with land have no money.

The second is that there are no young and qualified workers in rural areas.

The third is that there is no new technology, we are struggling in the situation of “old to them, new o us”. How can we develop strongly like that!

The fourth is that there is no real information. Information nowadays is very chaotic, not only in cyberspace but also in the mass media. If we do not correct this problem to provide true information, the people will go astray.

I am very glad that the Government has recently affirmed the important role of enterprises in investing in agriculture, but up to now agricultural enterprises still account for too low a proportion of the total number of enterprises in Vietnam. Those are issues we need to consider thoroughly.

The need for a mechanism so that farmers and businesses can catch up with the market faster

One of the important goals in the 2021 - 2030 Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy is that the average income of rural people will increase by 2.5 to 3 times compared to 2020. I believe it’s achievable.

The Government has clearly defined the market for agricultural land use rights as property rights. It has also researched to renovate the operation of the Land Fund Development Center as the foundation to build a "Land Bank" in support of transfer transaction of land use rights and promotion of property rights concerning agricultural land. If we can do that, we will unleash a great deal of productivity.

Another thing is that we must also be aware of matters surrounding cooperatives and cooperative economy. These two concepts are not the same. And cooperatives have to be reorganized to become true voluntary and mutually beneficial farmer organizations that address the key issues of the agriculture sector.

The world has achieved great achievements in the research and production of plant varieties and livestock. While we on the other hand are going too slowly even though ten years ago we already had a national program on seed research and production.

Many new varieties have already been confirmed by developed countries, but we keep conducting tests year after year. Until the breed is recognized by competent state agencies, developed countries have already switched to using other advanced varieties. We therefore need mechanisms and policies for farmers and businesses in order to catch up with domestic and international markets faster and timely create products in demand.

For a long time, we have not focused on market research. When we see a locality that has developed a good fruit tree, we instantly call for other localities to do the same, leading to uncontrolled supply. During the time I went to a number of countries, I was able to see that they strictly managed the product supply, so they always maintained a proactive stance in terms of market management. Those are the bottlenecks of Vietnam’s agriculture industry that need to be removed soon for the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas as set out by the Prime Minister's Decision 150.