Overcoming the storm to welcome the New Year

Storm engulfs

Never before has the agricultural sector faced so many difficulties and challenges as in 2024. In the early months of the year, the weather was unpredictable. Droughts and successive storms significantly impacted agricultural production. The peak was the torrential rains and floods from the remnants of Typhoon No. 3 in early September. According to a report from the Provincial Office for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue, the historic flood in September 2024 destroyed over 6,200 hectares of rice and other crops; affected nearly 3,000 hectares of annual and perennial crops and fruit trees; killed or swept away nearly 50,000 livestock and poultry; damaged nearly 1,000 hectares of planted forest; and destroyed 499 hectares of fish farms and 527 fish cages…

Leaders from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development visited a pilot model for a new rice variety.

According to Comrade Nguyen Dai Thanh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: Calculations show that the unprecedented flood in recent years has caused 10% of the economic value of the sector to be lost.

Along with unpredictable weather, the agricultural sector also faces "storms" from the global market and existing problems in domestic production. Rising prices of production materials and animal feed, while product prices fall, have significantly impacted the production and supply chains in sectors such as livestock, crop cultivation, and aquaculture.

Overcoming the storm

If natural disasters and market storms with intense competition marked a particularly difficult year for agriculture and farmers, then the achievements in 2024 will mark a year of overcoming these challenges.

Under the leadership and direction of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has implemented a comprehensive set of solutions. The focus has been on restructuring the agricultural sector towards the development of commercial agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, concentrating on key products and specialties in a linked chain to ensure quality and high added value, linked with the construction of new rural areas; creating conditions to attract more businesses and cooperatives to invest in agriculture and rural areas; and boosting production, especially in the two major product groups of food and foodstuffs, to meet the needs of the people and for export. By the end of 2024, the agricultural sector had exceeded its assigned targets, achieving impressive figures: sugarcane production exceeded by 21%; fresh milk production exceeded by 19%; forest planting area exceeded by 10.5%; tea production exceeded by 1.8%; and meat production increased by 6%... The estimated value of agricultural production for the year reached over 4.6%. In addition to traditional export products such as tea and plantation timber, for the first time, thanks to the efforts of the industry and the businesses involved, 7 OCOP products from the province have secured official export channels to the European market.

Another highlight for the agricultural sector in 2024 is that, for the first time, Tuyen Quang's planted forests have officially been granted a planting area code by the Vietnam Forestry Science Institute. This is a significant step that not only enhances the value of planted forests for export but also contributes to the goal of building Tuyen Quang into a national center for processing planted forests.

These achievements demonstrate that the development of the agricultural sector is not only defined by quantitative figures but also reflects qualitative changes.

Comrade Nguyen Dai Thanh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, confidently affirmed: These achievements have brought new vitality, giving the industry more impetus to achieve its goals in the next phase, while consolidating the industry's pivotal position among other economic sectors.

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/vuot-bao-don-xuan-205748.html