KEY WORK PLAN FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN VIETNAM THE YEAR 2003

The agriculture and rural development sector is anticipated to further accelerate its growth rate, production efficiency and income rate of farmers although it is foreseen that this sector will face up many difficulties like climate changes and limited state investment budget. It is forecasted that serious drought will happen in the Central Highland and some other areas. Once will the Vietnamese economy have AFTA agreement enforced in 2003, a variety of agricultural products will be freely imported at ever lower import taxes, putting domestic agricultural products under a fierce competition. The world market for agricultural products is seriously fluctuating. Therefore, the Vietnamese agricultural sector shall make greatest efforts to attaining higher targets set by the Government.

1. Key targets for the agriculture and rural development sector:

Agricultural growth pace: 2.6%; forestry sector: 3.3%;

Food yield: 36.1 million tons including 33.6 million ton rice and 2.5 million ton maize;

High quality paddy for export: 1 million ha

Industrial trees: 600,000 ton rubber; 350,000 ton dry rubber latex

All kinds of meat: 2.23 million tons

Dairy cattle: 60.000 units; 50 % of which is milking with an output of 110,000 tons

Export turnover of agro-forest products: 3.0 billion USD

Centralized afforestation: 200,000ha

Forest cover: reaching to 35.5%

Percentage of rural population who can have assess to clean water: 56%

 2. Implementation of key programs:

- The program aims at adjusting the planning attached with shifting the agricultural production structure; monitoring and re-adjusting the planning for agro-forestry production and water resources throughout the country, more than 7 ecological areas and some key products. The planning for agriculture, forestry and water resources shall be subject to synchronic development requirements in certain localities. The production planning shall be attached to the processing industry and markets. Developing the planning shall be in line with formulating policies ? solutions and  establishing implementing organization with aims at improving the legitimacy of planning, which makes contributions to sustaining production efficiency and stable development.

- The Salt Program further focuses on MARD's resources involved in guidance and management of the salt sector, investigation and study of comprehensive policy proposals for purposes of releasing the salt sector and salt producers from difficulties. It also concentrates on controlling the demand for importing industrial salt and gradually trying to stop importing it in the coming time.

- The scientific and technological program:

+ The plant and animal breed program: To continue implementing national projects and providing guidance on the implementation of breed projects at the provincial level with aims at creating a linkage to national projects; mobilizing financial sources for breed study thesis; developing centralized and targeted breed research centers; establishing diversified breed production and supply systems in various forms and with participation of different economic sectors; formulating policies and solutions with aims at improving breed-related state management capacity; enhancing inspection into the implementation of breed projects in an attempt to promptly discover and prevent law violation.

+ To develop and implement the high-tech agro-forestry development program: to raise awareness of research institutes, enterprises and localities as required by the high-tech based agricultural development, for the purpose of producing high quality and competitive products, then improving production efficiency and taking initiative in formulating projects and make investment in such project implementation.

+ To continue investing and improving research units by means of restructuring Institutes: to develop some institutes abreast with other regional countries with respects to infrastructure, research capability and research findings exercise; to renovate the mechanism of designating and upholding study theses under jurisdiction of MARD.

- The program for making a collaboration among ?4 stakeholders? with aims at speeding up the shift in agricultural production structure:

To boost up consumption of agricultural products by means of entering into contracts under the Decision ?80? by the Prime Minister; to create a link between production, processing and consumption based on scientific and technological background; to focus on instructing and exercising the coordinative mechanism and creating a link among ?4 stakeholders? ? namely producer ? scientist ? businessmen ? creditor.

Agricultural sector 

Facing up real conditions and the tendency to fast development of science and technology, future markets for various agricultural products and advantages of given areas and of the whole country as well and the planning for future agricultural development shall aim at the following key tasks:

- To revise the agricultural development planning over the country and in 7 ecological areas based on the general socio-economic development strategy; to foresee the demand for agricultural products in the light of international economic integration and with scientific and technological advance and economic strengths in certain areas and throughout the country; to identify the most competitive local products and national agricultural products with competitive advantage; thereby, to propose the orientation of restructuring rural and agriculture in 7 ecological areas for the purpose of producing high and medium competitive products and promoting products substitutive for imports; to closely linkage between a new agricultural economic structure, the planning for agricultural production, infrastructure investment and development and market-oriented processing industry; simultaneously to determine approaches at the grassroots level to bring into full play advantages; to orient the planning for the year 2010 on the ground of the above-mentioned duties and local advantages in the following areas:

Central plain and northern mountainous area

Red River Plain

Zone No.4

Central Coastal Area

Central Highland

South-East Central Area

Mekong Delta

 Forestry sector

The planning for forestry sector shall firstly aim at the following tasks in the future:

To re-adjust the forestry planning for 3 forest types through out the country: special-use, protection and production forests; especially, to concentrate on thoroughly pondering on the appropriate area of special-use and protection forests, meeting requirements by the whole country and key areas; to identify clearly scope, boundary and area of protection and special-use forests at commune level; and then to inform local people about such information serving better their protection and use of the rest of forest land area in order to develop economically-valued forest trees; and to focus on agricultural farming and animal husbandry with aims at increasing income and improving living standards.

To make planning and develop the local forestry, especially in North-West area, Central Highland and Southern central area and coastal area; to verify scope and area of special-use, protection and production forests, structure of key forest trees in specific areas; and to determine applicable technologies and the orientation to develop and invest in forestry, infrastructure and processing industry in given areas.

To make planning material input base for paper-making establishments, artificial board-producing units and special forest product processing establishments etc.; to estimate the volume of wood, bamboo and forest products needed for given periods subject to market demands for each kind of forest products, to determine a forest tree structure conform to technology, varieties, farming method and high farming intensity etc..

To make planning some crucial catchment basins in order to preserve and regulate water flow for hydraulic works, hydroelectricity schemes and anti-sand fly-away and anti-coastal landslide; to provide guidelines and assist provinces to make planning the 3 forest types and finish the forestry development strategy by the year 2010.

 3.Water resources planning and development:

Water resources planning and development shall articulate the following targets:

To firstly put a premium on revising the water resources development strategy for the period 2001-2010, stemming from requirements of market-oriented production economy, aiming at facilitating the shift in agricultural and rural economic structure, thereby, to identify the orientation of investment and development of various types of hydraulic works, scale and technology of irrigation schemes and priorities given to certain areas.

To conduct a survey, review and make planning the integrated exploitation and use of large river basins, particularly Mekong river, Red river, Dong Nai river, Ca river, Ma river and Srepok river etc.

To conduct a survey and evaluate real condition of existing hydraulic works including 75 small and medium-sized hydraulic schemes, 800 reservoirs... which are too obsolete and seriously degraded and on low duty; to determine investment rate and preferential order etc... so as to more effectively elaborate plan for restoration and upgradation of existing hydraulic schemes.

To re-adjust the planning for embankment system and drainage under dikes especially in Red river plain and the planning for flood control; to specify investment projects for urgent upgradation and new construction..., assuring safety for people communities and economic development...

To make planning reservoir networks, especially Hoa Binh, Dau Tieng and Phu Ninh reservoirs...in an attempt to keep local people safe in downstream areas; to take measures in flood damage mitigation (flood, storm, and landslide...), to elaborate long-term, medium- term and annual plans; to advocate investment and development of schemes according to preferential procedures.

PROGRAM FOR PLANT VARIETIES,  ANIMAL BREEDS AND FOREST SEEDLINGS IN VIETNAM

Vietnam shifted a self-sufficient agriculture-based economy, which were always in short of food, into a goods production-based economy, which ensured the national food security and obtained an increasingly big quantity of commodities. Some commodities such as rice, coffee, tea, pepper and cashew occupied a high market share in the world. However, the backward agricultural production know-how brought about low competitive agricultural products in both domestic and international markets. Output, quality and productivity of crops and animals remain low. Productivity of crops presented only 50-70% against the world average rate. (paddy rice: 70%, maize: 60%, sugar cane: 55%, tea: 54%...). The yield of 1 ha cultivated land valued around 17 million VND. Productivity of animal husbandry stays the same situation.

Aiming at overcoming deficiencies and pushing up agricultural development in the context of regional and international integration, the Prime Minister approved the program for plant and animal breed and forest seedlings for the period 2000-2005 on 10 December 1999 with key objectives as follows:

Provide sufficiently plant varieties and animal breeds and even high quality breeds for production, especially for important sectors which affect income of majority of farmers and bring in a substantial export turnover such as rice, coffee, rubber, tea, cashew, pepper, vegetables, fruit trees, oil family tree, sugar cane, forage crops, pig, oxen for food, dairy cattle, poultry and key forest types, serving the paper and timber production sector...

Adopt both traditional and new science and technology by means of utilizing hybrid advantage, and simultaneously preserve biological diversity, step by step apply biotechnology to cross-breeding.

Establish a system for production and services of plant varieties, animal breeds and forest seedlings conform to market mechanism.

Encourage domestic and international institutions and individuals to participate in research, cross-breeding, creation, production and supply of high quality plant varieties and animal breeds for production.

Improve technical facilities, raise capacity of research, production and supply of plant varieties and animal breeds, enhance state management of plant varieties and animal breeds.

 The Program for plant varieties, animal breeds and forest seedlings (hereafter called the Program) is planned to be conducted for the 2 following phases:

Phase 2000-2001: To focus on research, selection, creation and production of stocks and F1 crosses, mainly in Central Research Institutes.

Phase 2002-2005: To invest in development of production and propagation of commercial breeds, serving production activities mainly in localities and enterprises.

 In 2 years 2000 and 2001, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development provided guidance and approved 35 projects; the State Budget has disbursed 253 billion VND to the Program in order to make investment in upgrading centers for research, selection, creation and production of stocks and F1 crosses. Hereinafter are some complete results of the Program: 

1. To further improve infrastructure, technical norms serving research, selection, creation and production of stocks.

To make investment in upgradation: laboratory, breeding farm, drying ground, grassland, experimental field, breed-propagating garden and forest seedling nursery.

To build up and finish embryo culture facility, net house, drying ground, storehouse, seed preserve store, drying system, seed-sieving machine.

To invest additional nearly 20 billion USD in laboratory equipment and facilities in order to modernize centers for selection, creation, hybridization, propagation and control of breeds.

To upgrade 5 pig-breeding farms: Thuy Phuong, An Khanh, Binh Thang, Dong A (No.1), Quang Nam and 2 breed cow-raising farms in Mocada, Moc Chau and 2 poultry-breeding farms, namely Dai Xuyen and Vigova.

 With the investment fund for the Program, several research infrastructure facility of some research institutes met standards as good as that of regional advanced countries, for instance, nurseries, net houses, embryo culture facility and IPM department of pathogen-free crops of Fruit Tree Research Institute of South Vietnam, Plant Protection Institute, Cigarette Institute; and gene banks of Forest Seedlings Research Center; Thuy Phuong Pig Research Center; Thuy Phuong Poultry Research Center; Dong A Pig Factory; Son Tay Goat and Rabbit Research Center and Research Center of cross-bred Paddy, Cashew and Cotton.

2. The Program has selected, created, hybridized and imported an additional volume of stocks and F1 crosses with aims at producing commercial breeds and varieties, serving production activities. 

To introduce high quality rice varieties, to produce 85 tons of super-pure varieties, 2020 tons of pure varieties; to rehabilitate 8 nuclear indigenous rice varieties for Northern provinces.

To finish the technical procedure for production of F1 hybrid rice seeds consisting of 2 lines, 3 lines; to produce parent crossbred rice varieties, helping take initiative in producing F1 hybrid seeds in the home country.

To adopt hybrid maize seeds with a fast and moderate maturity speed and a yield of 5-10 tons/ha; to do research and to hybridize protein-enriched maize seeds;

To experiment on exotic varieties of mango, durian, longan and selected indigenous dominant varieties with 3-5 F1 tree crosses every type of variety.

To select many dominant sexless rubber lines including 2 multi-characteristic sexless lines, 5 rubber varieties which have greate potential in latex output and growth pace.

To adopt high-yield arabica coffee lines in the Western Highland and experiment robusta coffee variety in Northern provinces.

To select and introduce high-yield and high quality tea lines.

To adopt sexless cashew lines such as PN1, LG1, CH1; to finish the production processing of cashew trees by means of using grafted varieties, selection of new cashew lines and new plantation of mother tree gardens.

To collect and import high quality exotic cotton varieties, to crossbreed hybrid compounds under the production plan prepared by the cotton sector.

To improve the variety propagation technology by means of tissue culture and cut stems of Acacia and Eucalyptus

To improve the formula for producing crossbred pigs for food with 87.5% exotic blood and crossbred pigs with 3 and 4 exotic blood; to import and propagate a plenty of poultry such as fowl and duck aiming at meeting the demand for meat and eggs.

To select, create, import and raise a nuclear high-yield and stable herd of dairy cattle adaptable to Vietnamese raising conditions for the purpose of quickly propagating the herd of dairy cattles, facilitating the dairy cattle development program.

 3. To import breeds for experiment, selection and creation of stocks:

To import and re-buy great grandparent pigs consisting of 5 lines of LR, DR, YS, MS and LW from PIC Company in an attempt to meet the demand for high quality pig breeds for production and export; to import Holland and Jersey pure dairy cattles from the United States and sperm of dairy cattles, except for hundreds of dairy cattle breeds imported under the national dairy cattle development program; to import grandparent duck line, grandparent duck line, French grandparent swan line, Kabir grandparent fowl line, and Luong Phuong parent fowl line, Tam Hoang grandparent fowl line.

To import additional thousands of tectona grandis, A. auricullformls X A. Mangium, Meulaleuca Leucadendra, Casuarina equisetifolla, Eucalyptus.

 4. To use stocks and F1 crosses to produce a great volume of commercial breeds for farmers? production:

Localities and enterprises adopted to produce commercial breeds serving farmers' production: F1 hybrid rice variety meeting the domestic demand; and high quality commercial breeds to be supplied for the 1 Million Ha Rice for Export Program which is planning to produce parent hybrid maize seeds, contributing to increasing the quantity of domestic hybrid maize seeds to more than 65% of market shares in the production; to produce soya-bean and peanut stocks, occupying nearly 10% of production area of fruit tree seeds, plant stocks, new tree plantation; to produce sugar-cane varieties for 7 ecological zones.

To produce cut stems, arabica coffee plantlets, cacao plantlets

To produce and supply grandparent pig breeds to localities in order to produce commercial pigs with export standard, serving production requirement.

To produce and supply commercial fowl breeds; high quality breed poultry, basically meeting demand for poultry breeds.

To produce industrial plant varieties; and forest seedlings related to the 5 Million Ha Reforestation Program

 5. Sites for implementing the Program effectively:

With respects to research and selection, creation of stocks and F1 crosses: Maize Research Institute ? involved in producing parent maize seeds; Mekong Delta Rice Institute ? specialized in producing high quality super-pure rice varieties; Fruit Tree Institute of South Vietnam ? interested in producing F1 crossbred and disease-resistant fruit trees; Vietnam Agricultural Science and Techniques Institute ? specialized in producing F1 cashew crosses; the Agricultural Science Institute of South Vietnam ? specialized in producing F1 cashew and cassava crosses; Plant Protection Institute ? interested in producing disease-free citrus crosses; Animal Husbandry Institute ? specialized in producing pig stocks, dairy cattle and poultry; Cotton Research Institute ? interested in producing disease-resistant and high-yield cotton crosses...

Concerning production of commercial plant varieties and animal breeds from stocks and F1 crosses: Southern Plant Varieties Company; Hau River SFE; Forest Seedlings Company; and many Plant and Animal Breed Companies in other provinces; Hybrid Rice Manufacturing Cooperatives in Nam Dinh, Quang Nam, Dak Lak provinces; advanced farms and households specialized in producing fruit tree seeds in Ben Tre, Vinh Long, Dong Nai; VIGOVA Duck Farm; many farmer groups interested in rice seed propagation in An Giang, Can Tho, Dong Thap; many private companies specialized in producing breeds and varieties such as Trang Nong Company, CP Company, BIOSEED Company...

 6. Seeds projects funded by international organizations and contents and objectives of the domestic seed component shall be coordinated and integrated.

There have been such big projects as the project for promoting potato variety production with an investment of 3.5 million DM funded by the German Government; the Project with an investment of 28.3 million USD funded by the Danish Government etc.

This is the program linked to the orientation of agricultural development; economic restructuring and competitiveness improvement of agricultural products for export and poverty reduction.  

SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY:  STATUS AND CHALLENGE

 Vietnam is a tropical country, forest area and forest land presently occupies 60 % of total national area. Modem forestry recognizes two functions of forest: economy and environment, Forest has unique function in protection of atmosphere environment, water conservation, bio diversity maintenance and one of four basic factors of nature: Geography - topography, climate - hydrology, mother - stone - soil, and forest ecological system. On the other hand, the sustainability of forest resources is foundation for development of forest based economy and other economic sectors. A sustainable forestry is a factor ensuring the development of other sectors as fishery, industry, tourism.

In developed countries, the value of forest ecology occupies considerable ratio, while the forest product value is only very small. In Japan this ratio is 96/4 , In Germany: it is 93/7, In Russia: it is 70/30.

1.Status of forest resource

According to forest inventory in 1997, the forest area of our country is 10.9 million ha , occupying 33,2 % of the total national natural area, in which the natural forest is 9,4 million ha and the planted forest is 1,5 million ha . The average criteria of forest area and wood volume of our country is low, it is only 0,14 ha / capita and 8 m3 / capita while the world criteria is 0,9 ha / capita and 75 m3 / capita.

If comparing with the data in 1990, forest area is increasing 1,61 million ha , while natural forest increases 1,2 million ha. However the volume and quality of forest is decreased. The planted forest is also doubled up in which the big expansion is in the eastern north: 476 000 ha . Total volume of the planted forest is 30,6 million m3 occupies 4,1 % of the total wood volume in the country) . Bamboo is 96 million culms ( 1,1 % of the total national bamboo).

The area of bare hills is relatively big of 8,3 million ha, occupying 25,1 % of total national area.

2. Activities for sustainable forestry

In the recent years a number of national and international projects and programmes have been carried out to develop suitable forest system. For national programmes it must be mentioned to the 327 programme (1993-1998) which has rehabilitated forest resources and development of protection and special use forest systems. 1.268, 600 ha was rehabilitated, 119.240 ha of industrial and fruit trees is additionally planted. To serve this objective, support is given to construction of infra structure as roads ,schools and clinics.

The 661 programme is a programme connected to the 327 programme has been carried out from 1998 to 2010 with the aim to establish new plantation in which there is 2 million ha of protection and special use forest, 3 million ha of production forest. Beside the forest plantation programmes, there are number of national programme focusing on the comprehensive social and economic development as Poverty alleviation programme (the 135 programme), Human resource development programme, public administration reform programme also provided positive impacts, promoting sustainable development of forestry sector.

In recent years the international cooperation in forestry sector is speeded up . The total investment under the management of Management Board of Forestry Projects (MBFPs) was 230 million USD relatively corresponding to national investment in this sector. Beside the traditional forestry components as coastal plantation, protection of nature reserves, the support projects carried out more comprehensive development tasks as mountain rural development (Mountain Rural Development Progamme ( MRDP) , approaching modem forestry components as community forestry, credit in forestry development, forestry farm development and forest development basing on family economy development.

3. Action plan for sustainable forestry development, firstly paying attention to sensitive areas.

In 2002 a "Strategy for forestry development period 2001 - 2010" was developed and approved. This is valuable feasible project which has been elaborated worked out by forestry scientists and planners. However to follow this long term strategy there must be an action plan with concrete addresses and criteria. Compiling from forestry science researches as well as practices to develop sustainable forest ecological system. There must be an action plan for 4 sensitive ecological areas in Vietnam as follow:

- Mangrove forest: In Mekong delta: there must be consolidate the aquaculture development researches (shrimp) and forestry (mangrove) . And based on that economic planning is done so make it suitable with present stage.

- The degradation of Maleuca forest in alkali wet land in Mekong delta, the action plan in this area will consist of economic and social solutions, limiting forest fire and proper exploiting of virgin land.

- Dry Dipterocarp forest ecological system in the central plateau: there must be suitable planning to reduce the pressure from free people immigration, especially there must be suitable ratio between forest and coffee plantation development.

- Sustainability of ever green forest ecological system in the Northern West and Northern Centre. It is depending on economic condition and culture of ethnic minority people in the region.

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-TECH AGRO-FORESTRY APPLICATION MODEL IN VIETNAM

With aims at strengthening the agricultural and rural modernization and industrialization, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development chosen the year 2003 as the year to launch and develop high-tech application models applicable to agro-forestry production.  

I. Objectives and contents:  

1.The long-term objectives are to shift the Vietnamese traditional agriculture that are mainly dependent on natural resources and hard-working labour force into the agriculture that will be highly motivated by science and techniques, to efficiently apply high technologies to the agricultural and rural modernization and industrialization, helping become an industrial country by the year 2020.

- The objectives consist of:

+ To apply high-tech to agro-forestry production process, thereby bringing in higher productivity and better quality and lower prices of Vietnamese agricultural products, creating competitiveness in the light of regional and international economic integration and raising farmers? income; to give priority to applying high-tech to exports (rice, rubber, coffee, tea, cashew, pepper, peanut, vegetables, fruit, pork), substitutes for imports (maize, soya-bean, cotton, flower and dairy cattle) materials for processing industry (forest trees, sugar-cane, pineapples, cassava, industrial salt).

+ To produce high quality and efficient products in the agro-forestry production norms

+ To establish a sustainable agricultural production    

2. Contents:

High technology of plant and animal breed production; preserving and processing of agricultural products

Technology of precise cultivation and animal husbandry to economize inputs (irrigation water, adjustment of nutrient needs of crops and animals; application of mechanization and automation etc...)

Biological technology applicable to production of high quality products, serving agricultural production (re-combined vaccine, microbiofertilizer, bioproducts for plant protection etc... )

Information technology of trade promotion, sale of agricultural products and agricultural extension, pest control, plant and animal breed management etc...  

The traditional agriculture shall be shifted into high-tech applied agriculture through 2 models of technology. The first model which adopts technology more advanced than existing production know-how does not require a high investment rate. This can be applied in a large scale, especially in rural areas, which have great influence on farmers. The 1st model?s technologies of breed production, preserving and processing of agricultural products are seen as fundamental technologies. The second model which promptly applies technologies as advanced as that of developed countries to favorable sectors by means of technology import, international cooperation, foreign investment, joint-venture etc.. create a big leap. The application of the 2 above-mentioned high technologies are necessary to be promoted. And they can be exercised at the same time.   

II. Some high-tech agro-forestry models have been applied to production:  

1.Model of vegetables and flower in Da Lat city (Lam Dong province)  

This city has 40,000ha including 10,000ha agricultural land and 30,000ha forestland. It has 5,000ha vegetables; 200ha flower; 300ha tea; 2,000ha coffee and 1,000ha fruit tree.  

Clean vegetables is produced in the 2 following forms:  

Technology of isolated production in net houses does not use fertilizer and inorganic agricultural chemicals.

Technology of isolated production in net houses uses a limited dose of inorganic agricultural chemicals. This model is exercised on a land area of 20ha consisting of 7 ha by Kim Bang Company Ltd., 3ha by Trang Food Company Ltd. and 10 ha by farmer households.

This model has come into conclusion on 2 effective ways of material use as follows:

white nylon-covered house

colored nylon-covered beds  

Flowers are planted in the plastic house (for instance, plantation of high quality vegetables) covering a land area of 80ha. Such area yields 200,000 sprigs of flower in which 20,000 sprigs are exported and 18,000 sprigs/day are consumed in the domestic market. Chrysanthemum flower (Hoa Cuc) which are adopted the lighting technology realized a net profit of 28 million VND on a land area of 1,000m2; 17. 9 million VND with net house technology against 12.0 million VND with traditional practice outdoors.  

2.Model of 1,000ha flower in Me Linh (Vinh Phuc province)  

At present, Me Linh, Trang Viet and Tien phong communes (Me Linh district, Vinh Phuc province) have become zones specialized in planting flowers. Around 1,000ha are planted with flowers instead of paddy rice. The 3 flower markets in Me Linh commune can supply flowers to Hanoi and other provinces. This commune adopted new technologies including high quality varieties, net houses, nurseries, cool store and highly-qualified packaging. This model helps export 10% flowers and consume the rest in the domestic market.  

3.Model of vegetables, flowers, fruits, animal husbandry, aquaculture in Hanoi capital  

Hanoi has employed new equipment, techniques and technologies, for instance, dairy cattles (Phu Dong, Gia Lam); bonsai (Tu Liem, Tay Ho), oranges and pomelo (Van Canh, Tu Liem), marine products (Dong My, Thanh Tri), clean vegetables (Vinh Tuy and Linh Nam communes, Thanh Tri district) and (Van Noi commune, Dong Anh district).... The city is developing high-tech agricultural projects as bellows:  

Model of high quality vegetables and flowers: 16 ha in Tu Liem (Fruits and Vegetables Center)

Model of high-tech agriculture: 30ha in Nam Hong (Dong Anh district)

Model of high-tech agriculture: 15ha in Kim Son (Gia Lam district)  

Several farmers in Hanoi have adopted high technologies: plantation of orchid (5ha in Dong Anh), combined agro-forestry (Soc Son), marine products (Yen So, Thanh Tri)...There were 54 clean vegetables and safe food shops in 2002 etc...  

4.Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Center and Vinh Phuc Experimental Biology Model of production of clean vegetables and mushroom  

Vinh Phuc People?s Committee invested a fund of 300 million VND in a biological pilot in order to establish an IPM Center and experimental biology under control of Vinh Phuc Plant Protection Department.  

The coordination between Agriculture Extension Center, IPM Center and experimental biology sector is one of successful transfer models of equipment, techniques and technologies at the provincial level. The biological pilot in Vinh Phuc province has successfully applied and transferred the following projects:  

+ To establish 100 mushroom production farms with an output of 500 tons/year in Thanh Lang, Huong Canh, Thanh Tri, Hop Thinh communes in the form of mushroom village and mushroom production inter-farm (technologies from Agriculture Genetics Institute).  

+ To transfer the rat-biological poison technology (BSC) to farmer households (from the Plant Protection Department), chlorophyll growth-up hormone (from the Plant Protection Department and Chinese experts) and microorganic technology EM (fromVietnam-Japan Technology Development and Japanese experts)  

+ To conduct the clean vegetables project including an area of 130ha in 16 communes consisting of 9,000 farmer households with a yield of 2.5 thousands tons/year with the 5-taboo formula for clean vegetables production, 3 safety dosages (NO3, pesticide, disease-infectious microorganism).  

5.Model of net house and nursery with trademark-labeled plantlets by the Ben Tre province  

After the 3-year implementation (1999-2001), the whole province has had 125 net houses and nurseries covering the total area of 20,000m2 which were adopted advanced equipment and techniques and high technologies. Each net house has an area of 200m2 and yields a productivity of 0.5-1 million sprigs/year. Out of the 125 net houses and nurseries, 107 were invested by farmers themselves. And they yielded trademark-labeled varieties.  

Ben Tre is the province which produces a plenty of fruit tree seeds and has infrastructure such as net houses and nurseries conform to technical norms; original seedlings and trademark of seedlings.   

6.High-tech agro-forestry model in Ho Chi Minh city  

At present, Ho Chi minh city has established 50 net houses, nurseries, tissue culture division, division of plant cutting, germplasm and breeding (agricultural and forest trees). Embryo transfer of high-yield dairy cattles is applied. Many farmers knew how to combine between horticulture and biological tourism. Clean vegetables are produced in a large scale with hundreds ha. High technologies are applied to production of vegetables, flowers, dairy cattles and oxen for food. The industrial method is applied to production of seeds and breeds of tropical fruit trees, forest trees, dairy cattles, pigs, small livestock in South-East central area and the Mekong delta. Some of companies invested in establishing dozens of ha agricultural land area applicable to high technologies.  

7.Model of crops and animal breeds technology in companies.  

Many foreign invested companies are making investment in production and business of varieties in Vietnam with highly-qualified technology as follows:  

Crops: Group Joint-Stock Company, Pacific company, Bioseed Genetic Company etc...

Pig breeds: Taiwanese Agro-Forestry Company Ltd., Vietnam-Taiwan Agricultural Products Company Ltd., France-Hybrides Vietnam etc...

Fowl breeds: Group Joint-Stock Company, Cargill Vietnam Company Ltd. Japfa Comfeed Vietnam Company etc...

Duck breeds: VIGOVA and 30 satellite farms, Breeds Companies that managed to provide enough high quality breeds to South-east area and the Mekong delta under management via LAN networks connecting.

Flowers: Da Lat Flower Export and Import Company (Hasfarm ? Bioorganics), Bioninicfarm specialized in producing Loa Ken flowers  etc...

Many domestic companies are producing and trading in varieties like: Southern crop seeds Company, Dong-Tay Company, Vegetables and Fruits Corporation, Lam Dai Company Ltd., Orchid Export Company, Hai Duong Ex-Import Company, Lotus Company Ltd., Green Commercial Company, Dong Tay Seeds Company, Lam Thanh Orchid Company, Moncada Frozen Hormone Center etc...  

III. High-tech agro-forestry development policies  

The Government has promulgated some policies on crops and animal breed program, key plantlet development, and contracts for guaranteed purchase of farmers? produce (as in the old centrally planned and collective system) applicable to the high-tech agro-forestry development program. Furthermore, the Agriculture and Rural Development Policy Department proposed some policies with aims at encouraging economic sectors to make investment and farmers to adopt high technologies, for example:  

Investment in infrastructure serving the high-tech agricultural development

Lower income tax, lower corporation tax, tax exemption or 0% import tax imposed on equipment, facilities, materials etc...

Land lease price favourable to the high-tech agriculture

100% of loans and preferential interest rate

Agriculture extension and training, accommodating the high-tech agriculture

Joint-venture, linkage of the high-tech agriculture

Development of markets for such products as clean vegetables, flowers, fruits, meat, eggs, milk, special rice, clean tea etc., establishment of consumption networks for high quality agricultural products, maintenance of food safety for consumers, encouragement of enterprises on signing contracts for guaranteed purchase of farmers? high-tech produce, as in the old centrally planned and collective system.

  PROJECT "POVERTY MAPPING AND MARKET ACCESS IN VIETNAM"

On Friday, 21 Feb, the 3rd Module of Poverty Mapping Training Courses held by Information Center of Agriculture and Rural Development (ICARD), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD),: has finished fruitfully. This is one of the largest and systematic Poverty Mapping course ever held in Vietnam delivered by international experts from International Food and Policy Research lnstitute (IFPRI) and Institute of Development Study (IDS). The training course is a part of Project "Poverty Mapping and Market Access ill ; Vietnam" funded by New Zealand Embassy with the coordination of World Bank. Participated in the training course were 30 national experts from MARD, Ministry of Labors, Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Planning and Investment, General Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance, Hanoi Agricultural University, National Economics University, Institute of Economics.

The project is divided into two phases.

The l st phase include three training modules. Each module had its own assignment after the theory sections finished.

Module 1 provided training on how to use Stata software. Although there are several software package on statistics, this is the most powerful software developed by WB especially for survey data processing and poverty analysis. After the training, these national experts have a common software to use in processing and analyzing data, which create a potential for them to cooperate in research.

Module 2 was the training on Arc View, the software that helps present the poverty analysis from Stata (such as poverty rate, land use pattern, etc) on a geography map. Using ArcView, one can present the whole picture of poverty in Vietnam in a visual way and highlight factors that cause poverty such as land access, market access, infrastructure and so on.

 Module 3 focused on how to use the Census data and VLSS data to estimate the poverty rate at the district and even commune level. The Census data set has data on characteristics of households such household size, education of household heads, etc. but not the expenditure or income of households. The VLSS provides the same kind of data in addition to the expenditure of each households but only to the provincial level. Module 3 guides trainees through the procedures of estimating the relationship between characteristics of households and their expenditure using the VLSS data set, then apply this relationship to the Census data set to estimate the probability that each household is poor and the poverty rate at district and commune level.

Most of the trainees have evaluated Stata to be really useful and relevant to their work. At the end of the course, 3 groups of trainees presented three assignments on Land Use of the Poor and non-Poor, Poverty and Labor, Determinants of Poverty with deep analysis and large maps, which expressed their deep understanding of the training material and were excellent teamwork. After the completion of training course, the Steering Committee of the project picked the 10 top trainees to conduct 2nd phase of collaborative research and dissemination.

Poverty Mapping plays a critical role in guiding policy makers on which parts of the country are poorer, which factors is has larger impacts on poverty so that they can use resources more efficiently in the poverty reduction process.

The 2nd phase work will based on the two data sets, from the 1999 Population and Housing Census and the 1998 Vietnam Living Standard Survey (VLSS). The work will be carefully conducted with close cooperation of international experts. It is expected that product of the project will be extremely informative. Apart from that, the project should help much to establish a working network that links different ministries together and coordinate their efforts in poverty fighting.

The Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS) was approved by Vietnamese Government in May 2002 and has been implemented. The Government has assigned Ministry of Planning and Investment. The implementation process has coped with two main obstacles (i) coordinate related line ministries to increase the effectiveness. And (ii) identify the impacts of policies to poor and non- poor people.

The ?Poverty mapping and market access in Vietnam' has two main objectives

(i) establish a Steering Committee comprising of leaders of departments, divisions, centers of the two ministries implementing the Project ( the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development; Ministry of Planning and investment, the Ministry of Labor and War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) , General department of Statistics, the Ministry of Finance) and (ii) to build a taskforce group including selected young, officially trained experts with experience in poverty alleviation.

The project has prompt and effective outcomes: (i) it has established a mechanism to share information, and (ii) international experts have transferred analytical tools and economic estimations for Vietnamese expert groups. The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development highly appreciates the roles of taskforce groups, which will help to effectively implement the CPRGS, monitor and evaluate of the project . 

MISPA  

Mobilisation de l'Information au Service des Politiques Agricoles  
Information capacity strengthening for agricultural policy formulation  

1. Purpose of the project

MISPA Project was jointly designed by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project is designed as a direct support to accompany the institutional and vocational evolution of ICARD; it globally aims at strengthening the capacities of ICARD to achieve its mandate.

Several forms of support are thus mobilised to:  (i) develop the human resources and improve equipments of the centre, (ii) implement and monitor specific studies on the agricultural and rural sector, (iii) promote the diffusion of information towards partners and concerned users of the centre, (iv) support strategic reflection and the debate on public decisions formulation.  

2. Implementation strategy  

Learning by doing...

The project implementation lays emphasis on a "learning by doing" approach.  Concrete topics and domains to be studied within the framework of MISPA project provide the occasion of a continuous and vocational training of concerned experts, including members of ICARD divisions and representatives of ICARD institutional partners.  

Demand-driven...

Actually, the approach is based on the analysis of information demand formulated by the different actors of the agricultural sector.  Capacity building of the centre is thus firstly designed to meet the actual information demand from ICARD partners.  The periodic mobilisation of high level international experts allows to regularly adapt training tools and methods to professional context and needs of their interlocutors.  

Networking...

Lastly, and consistently tied to the previous points, the implementation strategy is based on a networking approach, ensuring effectiveness for information circulation. It aims at strengthening, in a sustainable way, connections between the centre and its institutional partners through the set-up of adapted means and procedures.  

3. Description of the project

MISPA project consists of three components, narrowly linked together for successful implementation:

1. ICARD capacity-building

2. Implementation of specific studies on agriculture and rural development

3. Project Management  

ICARD capacity building

This component aims at providing ICARD with assistance on : (i) strategic management and equipment improvement, (ii) development of skills for socio-economic information analysis, and (iii) information dissemination.

This component is a global support to activities of all current ICARD divisions, with special attention to the followings: Market Information ; Information Technology ; Information Publication.  

Implementing specific studies on agriculture and rural development

This component consists in a flexible ?Study Fund? to implement sectoral or thematic studies needed for relevant strategic decision and policy formulation. These studies are implemented by specific team of experts (researchers, economists, policy-makers?) identified among ICARD partners and chosen for their high competencies. One or several ICARD members are systematically designated toparticipate in, and regularly monitor, the implementation of each study. The ?Study Fund? is open to any financial contributions of external donors.

In addition to the Study Fund, three thematic working groups are formed and get special means to survey and formulate recommendations in the three following fields : (i) competitiveness of main Vietnamese agricultural commodities, (ii) rural development strategy, (iii) perspectives for coffee sub-sector.

Project Management

This component provides means for project management, monitoring & evaluation (steering and advisory committees, management board, communication, project review and auditing). The steering committee members meet ordinarly annually; they orient activities and ensure that results are taken into consideration for agricultural policy formulation. Special attention is paid to information dissemination and projects results discussion. Technical and financial external auditing procedures are planned on an annual basis to advise the project management board.  

4.Implementation characteristics

MISPA project duration is three years, starting from June 2002.

The project is funded by the ?Priority Solidarity Fund? (FSP) of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs under a grant of 1.5 millions Euros. This grant covers all or part of costs for equipment, training and study-trips, periodic mobilisation of international expertise, edition and communication, abound to Study Fund and project management board.

The MISPA steering committee consists in:

> For the Vietnamese side : a Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; the director of Science, Technology and Commodity Quality; the Director of ICARD.

> For the French side : the French Ambassador;  the Cooperation Attach?f the French Embassy; the representative of the French Development Agency (AFD) in charge of the agricultural and  rural sector.  

5. ID card of the project

Official name : Information capacity strengthening for agricultural policy formulation (MISPA 2001-17).

Project identification : 2001.

Signature of financing contract : 17/05/02.

Starting of activities  : 1/08/02

Funding : grant of 1,5 million ?uro.

Financing tool : Priority solidarity Fund (FSP) - french Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Duration : three years

Global purpose : To contribute to the elaboration of agricultural policy through a better management of sectoral information.

Implemented by : Information Center for Agriculture and Rural Developpement  

Contact
MISPA Project
Information Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development
2 Ngoc Ha - Ba Dinh
Hanoi (Vietnam)
Tel/fax : +84 (0)4 734 08 76
mispa.icard@agroviet.gov.vn
http://www.agroviet.gov.vn