National Assembly delegates question many "hot" issues about agriculture

National Assembly delegates of Dien Bien province exchanged on the sidelines of the question and answer session.

The content of the questioning mainly focused on 3 groups of issues that many voters, people and delegates are interested in : Solutions to remove difficulties for agricultural product exports (narrowing output markets, many businesses have no orders, some key agricultural products have fallen in price, farmers' income and life are affected...) ; activities to exploit, protect and develop aquatic resources , solutions to remove the "Yellow Card" of the European Commission (EC) for aquatic products ; conversion of land use purposes, recovery of rice-growing land area, ensuring food security and rice export.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan answered questions from National Assembly deputies . In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang; Ministers of Finance, Industry and Trade, Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Technology, Information and Communications, and Foreign Affairs also participated in answering questions and explaining related issues.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that Vietnam's agriculture is facing three major "changes": Climate change, market fluctuations and changes in consumption trends. In the context of a world that changes every day, every hour, conflicts, and policies of countries change continuously, it is difficult to be perfect in forecasting, but requires short-term flexibility.

Regarding food security, the Ministry has reported to the Prime Minister, who has also issued a telegram directing when food insecurity issues arise or when some countries ban rice exports. The current priority is to ensure national food security, promote food exports as a responsible commitment to the world on food security issues. At the same time, it does not shock the domestic market or affect domestic consumer prices.

Regarding the implementation of chain linkage, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that this is the strategy of the agricultural sector. The issue is to improve the sustainability of these chains in the coming time. Thereby overcoming the situation of good harvest but low price or the story of farmers betraying trust with enterprises or enterprises and traders abandoning deposits. In the coming time, the Ministry will persistently work with localities to build more synchronous and complete chain models. At the same time, coordinate with institutes, schools, scientists, and enterprises to impact the chain to develop more sustainably.

Regarding the question of rice land, Minister Le Minh Hoan noted that localities should try to preserve rice land funds in the process of socio-economic development. Consider carefully when converting rice land because there are many consequences behind, such as: rice output; how many farmers on that rice land; product chains, processing enterprises, trade services, people behind that product chain... The Ministry commits to persevere with localities to analyze situations when to convert, when not to convert with the principle of consideration and caution between development and preservation.

Regarding the issue of career conversion, Minister Le Minh Hoan said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued Decision 288 and an action plan on career conversion. However, there are still shortcomings in that it is a bit slow, the policy is not clear, and has not created a push towards the goal of reducing exploitation and increasing farming. The Ministry will continue to consider and dialogue with people in the conversion area, and those who are not allowed to exploit due to high intensity to have specific and feasible solutions for this issue. Each subject must have a specific policy attached, and should not give a general policy .

Many National Assembly deputies also expressed special interest in solutions to quickly remove the European Commission's Yellow Card warning for Vietnamese seafood. This has greatly affected seafood exports in particular and seafood exports in general. To solve this problem, according to Minister Le Minh Hoan, agencies must share responsibility together, along with fishermen, those involved in seafood logistics and industry associations to be able to manage well.

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