Proposal to use budget funds to support the preservation of rice-growing land.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed increasing various levels of financial support to protect and develop rice-growing land and limit land conversion.

This information is included in the draft regulations detailing rice-growing land, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently seeking feedback on before submitting it to the Government for promulgation.

The draft report states that currently, rice farmers receive state support to continue "maintaining their profession" and limit conversion to other crops. However, many localities have reported that the support level for rice cultivation land is low and the support procedures are complicated.

Furthermore, Article 182 of the 2024 Land Law for the first time allows people to use a portion of their rice-growing land to construct facilities for agricultural production. In practice, many localities have followed this approach, but there are no regulations to control it. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recognizes the need for detailed regulations in the decree.

According to the draft decree, based on the area of rice-growing land, the state budget will prioritize supporting rice production in localities. This support will be provided through budget allocation quotas decided by competent authorities.

A rice field in Thanh Oai district, Hanoi. Photo: Giang Huy — A rice field in Thanh Oai district, Hanoi . Photo: *Giang Huy*

The draft proposes increasing the current support level from 1 to 2 million VND per hectare per year for land exclusively used for rice cultivation; and from 500,000 VND to 1 million VND for other rice-growing land, excluding upland rice fields that have been expanded spontaneously without following any planning or development plan.

In addition to the two support levels mentioned above, the Ministry proposes an additional 3 million VND per hectare per year for rice-growing areas that need protection or require restrictions on conversion to allow the application of modern science and technology. This is a new provision compared to current regulations.

The area of land used for rice cultivation is determined based on land statistics of localities published by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for the year immediately preceding the year of budget allocation.

Regarding land reclamation and improvement for rice cultivation, the draft proposes a subsidy of 15 million VND per hectare for rice cultivation land, excluding upland rice land reclaimed from unused land; and a subsidy of 10 million VND per hectare for specialized wet rice cultivation land improved from single-crop wet rice land or land used for other crops. This subsidy amount is double the current regulation.

Regarding funding and support mechanisms, localities receiving supplementary budget allocations from the central government will receive 100% of the funding. Localities that contribute less than 50% of their revenue to the central government will receive 50% of the funding. The remaining localities will use their own local budgets to implement the program.

The draft regulations stipulate that provincial People's Committees shall manage and allocate the budget allocated for the protection and development of rice-growing land, and provide guidance on implementing support for land reclamation and improvement. The Ministry of Finance is requested to balance its regular budget to support localities in rice production.

The current rice-growing area nationwide is 3.9 million hectares. At the end of 2021, the National Assembly issued a Resolution on the national land use planning for the period 2021-2030 and the national land use plan for 2021-2025, which includes the important provision of maintaining over 3.5 million hectares of rice-growing land by 2030.

Pham Du

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