According to the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in recent times, the consistent viewpoint of shifting thinking from agricultural production to economy has been implemented by the ministry, localities and people, contributing to making production increasingly efficient, with products increasingly meeting domestic consumption and export needs. At the same time, this viewpoint also helped agricultural production to transform towards multi-layered, multi-value exploitation following regional advantages.
In addition, many technical advances, new varieties, effective farming processes, and climate change adaptations have been recognised and put into production. These contribute to disease control, ensuring productivity, output and economic efficiency, simultaneously converting part of the crop area in regions without advantages to other crops or aquaculture, with higher economic efficiency, especially rice land.
Many localities focus on expanding production on a large scale, applying high technology, organic farming, environmentally friendly practices, and ensuring biosafety and disease safety. The positive results from the above process meet the increasingly high requirements for quality and food safety for domestic consumption and export.
According to statistics, in 2023, the growth rate of crop production value reached 3%, of which annual crops increased by 2.22%, perennial crops increased by 4.26% and crop production value accounted for 63% of the total agricultural production value.
The export value of agricultural products reached 26 billion USD, an increase of 15% compared to 2022, including five export products of more than 2 billion USD, such as rice, coffee, cashews, vegetables, and rubber, with the average output value per hectare of cultivated land reaching 125 million VND.
However, agricultural production in general and the cultivation industry in particular have recently faced difficulties and challenges due to the impact of climate change, and diseases on crops, affecting crop productivity and quality. In addition, input material prices have increased several times, increasing production costs and reducing income for farmers.
On the other hand, the production linkage between farmers, cooperatives and enterprises is still limited. In many places, farmers do not produce according to planning and recommendations, or grow according to trends, leading to a situation where supply exceeds product demand.
On December 30, 2023, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1748/QD-TTg, approving the Strategy for Crop Development to 2030, with a vision to 2050. With specific viewpoints, goals, and orientations, the strategy is expected to be the driving force of the crop industry, to reap more success in the future.
The general goal of the strategy is to develop crop production into a complete, professional technical economic sector, with highly competitive products, ensuring food safety, firmly securing national food security and other needs of the economy, and increasing export value. Also to effectively use resources, protect the ecological environment, effectively prevent natural disasters and adapt to climate change, create jobs, increase income and quality of life for farmers, contribute to social stability, and ensure national defence and security.
Specific targets by 2030, the average growth rate of crop production value is from 2.2-2.5%/year; the average growth rate of added value of crop product processing industry is 8-10%/year; the proportion of crop product value produced under the forms of cooperation and association reaches 30-35%; the average product value per hectare of cultivated land reaches 150-160 million VND.
Orientation for developing some key crops, in which rice maintains a stable area of 3.56 million hectares. Developing specialty coffee by 2030 is 11,500 hectares, with an output of about 5,000 tons. By 2050, cultivation will become a modern technical economic sector among the top in the region and the world. Cultivation products are produced according to high-tech agriculture, organic agriculture, food safety and environmental friendliness.
According to Vuong Dac Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hoa Binh province, Hoa Binh has a unique climate and soil, so the products of the cultivation industry are very diverse and the value of cultivation products in the area accounts for more than 60% of the agricultural sector structure.
Many key products currently have advantages and brands recognised by the market. Some products have participated in the national product chain such as citrus fruit trees, tea, and rice. These are bringing good income to farmers, he said, noting that currently, red grapefruit, Dien grapefruit, Cao Phong orange, and purple sugarcane products of Hoa Binh have been exported to many markets, such as EU, the US, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Germany.
Hoa Binh Province has a long-term strategy to develop citrus fruit trees, and purple sugarcane, by aiming at commodity production, applying science and technology and linking production for sustainable development, he added.
Discussing this issue, the Director of the Department of Crop Production Nguyen Nhu Cuong said, "If the crop production industry develops traditionally, many products such as rice, coffee, and pepper, in terms of productivity and output, will almost reach the limit. Therefore, if we do not change our thinking, vision, or orientation, the crop production industry will stop or even decline.
To realise the goals in the Crop Development Strategy 2030, with a vision to 2050, ministries, branches and localities need to develop rice production in concentrated planning areas, with synchronous investment in transport infrastructure, irrigation, and logistics. They must arrange the structure of varieties and planting seasons in a controlled, natural direction to adapt to climate change, build clusters associated with vegetable production, processing and consumption in localities and regions with large output and develop safe vegetable production areas, focusing on ensuring traceability.
In addition, localities should convert part of the ineffective coffee area, especially areas with difficult irrigation water sources, to other crops with higher economic value. They should promote processing, and diversify coffee products, especially deep processing, to increase value and develop the Vietnamese coffee brand.
For pepper plants, it is necessary to develop according to market demand and reduce part of the unsuitable planting areas and old areas to other crops with higher economic efficiency. At the same time, developing cultivation in a circular direction, with low carbon emissions, and environmentally friendly practices, to reduce production costs, and improve product competitiveness, while researching, selecting, importing, and transferring crop varieties with high yield, good quality, and resistance to pests and diseases. Adapt to climate change and meet diverse market requirements, develop concentrated commodity production areas associated with infrastructure construction, logistics services and trade promotion and build domestic and foreign markets to ensure stability and increase the value of agricultural products.
