General Secretary To Lam: Agriculture is an issue of special concern

The General Secretary requested to urgently improve agricultural extension organizations from the provincial to communal levels, eliminating intermediaries, ensuring connectivity, synchronization, unity, regular and effective operations.

On the afternoon of October 3, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary To Lam chaired a working session with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to review the arrangement of public service units to perform agricultural extension tasks at the local level when operating the two-level local government model.

According to the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs , implementing the 2-level local government model, the situation of arranging grassroots agricultural extension forces and community agricultural extension, up to now each locality has reorganized 1 public service unit under the Department of Agriculture and Environment to carry out agricultural extension tasks.

Accordingly, in addition to the functions and tasks of agricultural extension activities according to Decree 83/2018/ND-CP, localities are currently assigning provincial-level agricultural extension organizations to perform many other tasks in the agricultural sector such as plant protection, veterinary medicine, and agricultural, forestry and fishery product quality management. The total number of agricultural extension officers working at the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center Office is currently 1,763 people.

Implementing the 2-level local government model, provinces and cities across the country have arranged district-level agricultural extension organizations (Agricultural Service Centers) according to the following plans: 24/34 provinces established regional agricultural extension stations managed by provincial Agricultural Extension Centers; 3/34 provinces established regional agricultural service stations managed by the Department of Agriculture and Environment (Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri); 2/34 provinces established regional agricultural service stations managed by commune People's Committees (Lao Cai, Quang Ngai).

After the arrangement, the total number of regional agricultural extension stations nationwide is 324; the total number of agricultural extension officers working at the stations is 4,518 people.

Speaking at the working session, General Secretary To Lam pointed out the common issues at the commune level, the Politburo had made very specific assessments and conclusions. According to feedback, one of the most difficult issues at the commune level today is personnel work.

The Politburo requires localities to arrange and deploy enough professional staff before October 15, 2025.

Regarding agricultural extension, the General Secretary emphasized the consensus that agriculture is a very important issue, receiving special attention in accordance with the Central Government's direction, agriculture is a national advantage, a pillar of the economy.

Comrade Pham Thi Thanh Tra, member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Central Organizing Committee, Minister of Home Affairs, spoke. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

Identifying agricultural extension as an important task of the commune-level government. Agricultural extension must be closely linked to the grassroots and the fields. Each commune has two agricultural extension officers. At the provincial level, there will continue to be agricultural extension centers, mainly responsible for guiding, coordinating, urging, and supporting the commune level in implementation.

The General Secretary requested to urgently improve the agricultural extension organization in the area from the provincial to the communal level, eliminate intermediary steps, ensure connectivity, synchronization, unity, regular and effective operation; arrange positions for civil servants with expertise in the agricultural field at the communal level; consolidate, strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the activities of communal-level agricultural extension officers to ensure that agricultural extension activities at the communal level are not interrupted.

The General Secretary proposed to consolidate the agricultural extension apparatus according to the two-level local government organization model, selecting a team of civil servants and public employees who meet the requirements of the task, both performing state management and providing agricultural extension services at the commune level./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-nong-nghiep-la-van-de-dac-biet-duoc-quan-tam-post1067943.vnp