Restructuring the Agricultural Sector: Opportunities and Challenges

>>> Lesson 1: Towards modern agriculture

Spontaneous production, breaking planning

Spontaneity and breaking planning barriers are two major problems facing the agricultural sector today. In fact, most spontaneous production or “breaking planning barriers” in the agricultural sector only brings “bitter fruit”, the consequences of which are borne by the farmers.

Before 2020, the price of fresh lemons reached a record high, around 20-25 thousand VND, even 30 thousand VND/kg. That was for spice lemons, especially for pink lemons, which are said to have the effect of seasoning and medicine, the price was up to 50 thousand VND/kg. The high price of lemons led to a fever of growing lemons in all localities in the province.

In some communes of Yen Thuan, Bach Xa, Minh Dan, Phu Luu, Tan Thanh, Yen Phu (Ham Yen); Thai Long, Doi Can, Nong Tien, My Lam (Tuyen Quang city); Tu Quan (Yen Son), people did not hesitate to destroy and intercrop lemon trees with other crops, some households even planted lemon trees in rice fields. However, the golden age of lemon trees did not last long, lemon prices dropped dramatically.

Although it is the core area of sugarcane raw materials, the average agricultural land area of Hao Phu commune (Son Duong) is only 0.5 ha/household.

Mr. Tran Viet Trung, group 8, Nong Tien ward (Tuyen Quang city) said that he invested in planting 3 hectares of lemons, however, when the lemons were harvested, the price was no longer at its peak of 25-30 thousand VND/kg, but had dropped to 5-7 thousand VND/kg, and the money from selling lemons was not enough to pay the workers to cut them.

The price of lemons was so low that income could not cover expenses, many lemon growers abandoned their gardens, or even cut them down to switch to other crops. Not long after, the price of lemons climbed to the peak, at 25-30 thousand VND/kg, causing a fever to grow lemons. The crisis of excess fresh lemons continued, at times dropping to 5-7 thousand VND/kg for grade A lemons, and only 2-3 thousand VND/kg for grade B lemons.

Mr. Truong Quoc Viet, Minh Phu village 5, Yen Phu commune (Ham Yen), who has many years of experience growing lemons, shared that lemon trees are a spice tree, so the amount used is not much. If they develop massively, it will cause an imbalance in supply and demand, causing bad consequences. According to Mr. Viet, in just the past 10 years, he has witnessed 2-3 ups and downs of lemon trees. Every time the price of lemons increases, people in all localities invest in planting them. When the price is low, people cut them down and then plant them again.

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of August, the whole province had 1,497.8 hectares of lemons, of which Ham Yen district had the most, with 1,231.1 hectares, an increase of more than 100 hectares compared to 2023. The current problem is that people in some communes in Ham Yen district, Tuyen Quang city, Yen Son are tending to abandon old orange, grapefruit, and tea areas to replace lemon planting, the risk of fresh lemon prices hitting rock bottom is inevitable.

Unlike lemon trees, orange trees, grapefruit trees, although planned by the province, in many localities, there are cases of breaking fences and exceeding the planning. Some communes also have the situation of encroaching on forestry land to grow oranges and grapefruits. And after a period of "hot" growth, the situation of "supply exceeding demand" has occurred, the purchase price of oranges and grapefruits has decreased sharply, making it difficult to sell and the rescue of oranges and grapefruits continues.

Mr. To Van Binh, Thai Ninh village, Phuc Ninh commune (Yen Son) said that from 2021 until now, the price of grapefruit has continuously decreased. Previously, type A grapefruit was sold at the garden for 20 - 22 thousand VND, even up to 25 thousand VND/fruit. In the 2023 grapefruit crop, the price of grapefruit dropped to 5 - 6 thousand VND, at times down to 2 - 3 thousand VND. The low price of grapefruit while the investment level is too high has caused grapefruit growers to neglect and not take care of the grapefruit, causing the grapefruit areas to grow poorly, the fruit quality is not guaranteed, and the value is reduced.

People produce spontaneously, break planning, lack connections, and especially do not take into account market factors, which has had a very negative impact on the sustainability of products, directly affecting farmers' income.

Challenges surround

According to agricultural experts, the province's agricultural production is basically extensive, managed in the form of small-scale farming, so the risks are high and the efficiency is low, the added value of agricultural products is even lower. That production is shown through the following characteristics: crude products, low quality, consuming a lot of resources, low application of science - technology and mechanization, low competitiveness. Production has not been linked with processing into a system to supplement and support each other for mutual development. Although there are enterprises and cooperatives, their leading role and promotion of production development are still not as expected.

Currently, only products such as planted forest wood and tea have links, promoting sustainable production, the rest are still only intermittent production. Although some models of links between farming households and enterprises have been formed. However, many cases have been broken due to many reasons, mainly due to conflicts of interest between the parties. Many production households do not have a deep understanding of the benefits of the link, and are hesitant when the purchase price of enterprises is lower than the market price. At the same time, the parties involved have not closely assessed the level of market fluctuations, causing agricultural products to stagnate at times, leading to "breaking the contract" of the link.

In addition, the competitiveness of agricultural products is still low due to the lack of diversity in product types, uneven sizes and colors, and unclear product brand and trademark identification. Recently, RYB Joint Stock Company (Hanoi) - a famous agricultural product exporter has worked with 7 OCOP entities to export star-certified OCOP products to the European market. However, Director of RYB Joint Stock Company (Hanoi) Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huong is still concerned about the competitiveness of the products. According to Ms. Huong, the company's current concern is the rudimentary processing process, outdated technology leading to product preservation problems, in addition, the product packaging and design are still monotonous and not eye-catching, making the identification of brands and trademarks not really effective.

Lack of connectivity, small-scale and fragmented agricultural production have directly impacted mechanization, application of science and technology, exploitation of scale advantages, as well as the implementation of advanced agricultural models. Small-scale production is reflected in the very low average cultivated area per farmer household.

In Hao Phu commune (Son Duong), a purely agricultural commune and the core of the sugarcane material area, each household has an average of only about 0.5 hectares. Mr. Nguyen Dang Khoa, an agricultural extension officer of Son Duong district, in charge of Hao Phu commune, shared that the average low area of cultivated land leads to many difficulties in applying mechanization. Mr. Khoa cited that during the sugarcane harvest season, each household has several thousand square meters, so arranging for cutting, loading and transporting is a problem.

According to experts, the level of investment in agriculture in Vietnam, including Tuyen Quang province, is still limited, scattered, and not commensurate with the potential and contribution of the sector to the economy. Therefore, the technical infrastructure of agriculture and rural areas still has many shortcomings, not meeting the development requirements, especially the technical infrastructure directly serving agricultural production.

Agricultural support services are also underdeveloped, especially post-harvest preservation and logistics. Agricultural processing and deep processing industries are underdeveloped, mostly small-scale, with outdated technology. Some policies to attract resources to agriculture are not effective, not to mention the objective impacts from market factors, natural disaster risks, etc. This is a significant challenge that the province's agricultural sector must face if it wants to "take off".

Article and photos: Doan Thu

(To be continued)

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/co-cau-lai-nganh-nong-nghiep-co-hoi-va-thach-thuc-bai-2-thach-thuc-dat-ra-197418.html