On the afternoon of October 15, in Can Tho, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a conference to deploy the Project "Sustainable development of one million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta region by 2030".
Also attending the Conference were Party Central Committee members: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc, Ministers, Provincial Party Secretaries, leaders of 12 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region, representatives of international organizations such as the World Bank (WB), and scientists.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam is the first country to implement a large-scale low-emission rice production program. Approved by the Prime Minister at the end of 2023, this is also the world's first project to produce one million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice at the government-directed scale, so it has received a lot of attention from international partners.
Achieved very positive pilot results
According to reports and opinions at the Conference, recently, under the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister, ministries and branches have made great efforts with 12 localities in the Mekong Delta to implement the Project and achieved some remarkable initial results after one year of implementation.
The Government and the Prime Minister have resolutely directed ministries and branches to promulgate, amend and supplement current regulations to create a legal framework and mobilize resources to implement the Project.
The Government has issued Decree No. 112/2024/ND-CP, regulating planning areas, investment policies, support for investment in infrastructure construction, and application of modern science and technology for high-yield and high-quality rice growing areas.
The Government also directed to amend the Law on Public Investment, submit it to the National Assembly for consideration at the October 2024 session, including simplifying procedures for construction, appraisal, and approval of public investment projects, ODA projects, etc.
At the same time, direct the Ministry of Planning and Investment to amend and supplement the Decree on policies to encourage and attract enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas; assign the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to amend and supplement the Decree on linkage in production and consumption of agricultural products; and develop a Decree on mechanization in agriculture. These decrees are in the final stages of completion and will be issued in the coming months.
The Government also assigned the Ministry of Finance to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to urgently develop and submit to competent authorities for promulgation a Project to establish and develop a carbon market in Vietnam.
The Government has approved Resolution No. 108/NQ-CP dated July 18, 2023, agreeing to mobilize ODA capital and foreign preferential loans for 16 sustainable development projects in the Mekong Delta region adapting to climate change (Mekong DPO).
The Prime Minister also assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work with the World Bank and development partners to research and develop additional ODA projects to supplement financial resources and technical support to implement the Project, and report to competent authorities for approval according to regulations.
For its part, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has presided over and coordinated with ministries, agencies and localities to actively develop and implement activities, including developing areas participating in the Project and organizing the implementation of pilot models in the Mekong Delta region; actively working with the World Bank to develop projects to mobilize resources and provide technical support for the implementation of the Project.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that 7 pilot models are currently being implemented in 5 provinces and cities including: Can Tho, Dong Thap, Kien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang. 4/7 pilot models for the Summer - Autumn crop in 2024 have reported very positive results, creating great encouragement for farmers and businesses.
Specifically, reducing costs by 20-30% (reducing the amount of seeds by over 50%, reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer by over 30%, reducing 2-3 times of spraying pesticides, reducing about 30-40% of irrigation water); increasing productivity by 10% (productivity in the model reached 6.3-6.6 tons/ha compared to the control at 5.7-6 tons/ha); increasing income for farmers by 20-25% (profit increased by 4-7.6 million VND/ha compared to the control), reducing an average of 3-5 tons of CO2 equivalent per hectare and all harvested rice output is registered by businesses for purchase with a purchase price 200-300 VND/kg higher.
Delegates assessed that the approval and implementation of the Project has contributed to affirming that Vietnam is a responsible member, proactively and actively implementing international commitments on climate change response and contributing to ensuring global food security.
In addition to the achieved results, there are still some shortcomings, difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the Project. This is the first Project in the world on large-scale high-yield, low-emission rice cultivation, so it has many new and unprecedented contents.
Awareness of high-yield, low-emission rice cultivation among rice growers, businesses, and some levels of government is inadequate. Along with that are issues related to planning, determining specific areas of land for high-yield, high-quality rice cultivation, resource mobilization, etc.
At the Conference, local leaders reported specifically and in detail on the implementation of the Project, clearly stating the results achieved after one year of implementation, clearly identifying difficulties, obstacles, causes, responsibilities, and making proposals and recommendations for ministries, branches and localities to discuss and agree on plans, solutions and handling authority to promote effective implementation and achieve the Project's goals.
Leaders of ministries and branches responded to proposals and recommendations from localities, in which the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance clarified more about resource mobilization and use, financial management; the State Bank clarified credit sources; the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment mentioned solutions to cope with drought, salinity, landslides, etc.
The WB representative affirmed that the WB has a very strong commitment to this program, suggesting that the Government can establish an interdisciplinary working group to handle related issues, harmonize procedures between the two sides, agree on a clear, feasible, and effective implementation mechanism, sign a loan agreement soon, and effectively promote financial resources from the WB for the Project.
"Love rice plants as you love yourself"
In his concluding remarks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh acknowledged and highly appreciated the content of the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and its dedicated, responsible, and practical opinions; assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Government Office to closely coordinate with relevant ministries, agencies, and localities in the Mekong Delta region to synthesize and absorb as much as possible of the opinions to complete the report and promptly submit for promulgation a conclusion notice for unified implementation.
The Prime Minister raised 5 guiding issues and 11 specific tasks and solutions to promote the implementation of the Project in the coming time.
Emphasizing five guiding issues, the Prime Minister requested to breathe new life into rice plants and the rice industry with digital technology, green development, circular economy development, sharing economy, knowledge economy, application of science and technology, and innovation.
"We must love rice plants as we love ourselves, as what we love most in our lives, and from there create a revolution for rice plants and the Mekong Delta," said the Prime Minister.
Along with that, mobilizing diversified resources, including central and local resources, public-private partnership, loans, bond issuance, socialized capital, resources of people and businesses.
At the same time, effectively use resources, eliminate bureaucratic mechanisms, subsidies, and cumbersome procedures, and ensure resources reach localities, production facilities, and farmers.
Maximize the strength of the entire political system, but first of all, promote local self-reliance and self-reliance, and have mechanisms and policies to mobilize the strength of people and businesses.
Regarding the target, the Prime Minister requested to accelerate and make further breakthroughs to achieve the target of one million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice as soon as possible, thereby achieving about 14-15 million tons of rice and 9-10 million tons of high-quality rice. This target must be achieved by 2030 at the latest and efforts must be made to achieve it sooner.
The Prime Minister pointed out 11 specific tasks and solutions:
Firstly , planning a stable and long-term raw material area to develop high-quality, low-emission rice. Localities will coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to do this, to be completed in the second quarter of 2025.
Second , apply science and technology, build rice brands in the high-quality segment, along with geographical indications, traceability, growing area codes... The Prime Minister gave the example of the ST25 rice brand, "Mr. Crab's rice". Localities, businesses, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development do this.
Third , the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will preside over and work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Justice, and localities to develop preferential and priority mechanisms and policies, propose to competent authorities, and in the immediate future, try to present a number of policies at the upcoming National Assembly session, with the spirit of "resolving any problems".
Fourthly , regarding capital, the banking sector continues to implement the credit packages that are being implemented and research to implement in 2025 a credit package with a scale of about 30,000 billion VND for the Project; at the same time, provide loans to businesses to buy materials, seeds, and production and business.
Regarding borrowing capital from development partners, the spirit is that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible and allocates it to localities. The Ministry of Finance is studying the establishment of a fund to support the implementation of the One Million Hectare Project, including State capital, capital from selling carbon credits, socialized capital... to be used flexibly and quickly when necessary.
Fifth , regarding market development and diversification, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs promote and regularly implement connections between domestic and foreign markets, localities and enterprises.
Sixth , regarding climate change response, landslides, overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and droughts, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will develop a comprehensive project to protect the Mekong Delta, including the area of rice fields; the overall project but with investment phases, allocating resources to localities. This task must be completed by the end of the first quarter of 20225, the Prime Minister noted to summarize and replicate the model and methods of Ca Mau.
Seventh , regarding tasks related to emission reduction, reduction of methane gas in agriculture, and selling carbon credits, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Finance are responsible, with products to be available in the second quarter of 2025.
Eighth , promote business development, connect businesses with localities, cooperatives, production and business establishments to diversify products, and promote consumption of rice products.
Ninth , the Prime Minister made it clear that we cannot forget the strength of the people, so we must gather farmers in many different forms and methods such as in cooperatives, so that people can promote the spirit of self-reliance, self-reliance, initiative, dynamism and creativity. "The people make history; the rice revolution cannot be without the role and strength of the people," the Prime Minister emphasized.
The Prime Minister stated that if benefits (both material and spiritual) are guaranteed, farmers will actively participate. If they are not guaranteed, farmers will not participate even if the red carpet is rolled out. We must listen and share, work together, enjoy together, win together, develop together, share joy, happiness and pride together.
The tenth task is to call for and mobilize resources from international organizations and development partners. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development need to simplify procedures and harmonize regulations with partners. On this occasion, the Prime Minister thanked the WB for participating from the beginning in the implementation of the Project through support, international experience consulting, and financial support.
Eleventh , ministries, branches, and localities coordinate and link with each other, with businesses, with scientists; closely and effectively coordinate between farmers and businesses, between the State and the people, between the private sector and the state sector. The Prime Minister agreed with the proposal to establish a Steering Committee to implement the Project, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, with the spirit of only discussing and doing, not backtracking, saying is doing, committing to doing, doing, having done must have specific, measurable results.
Regarding the issues mentioned by the WB representative, the Prime Minister requested Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work immediately with the WB to resolve them.
The Prime Minister said that in the coming time, he will continue to chair conferences, direct tasks and solutions to remove difficulties, promote infrastructure development, and develop human resources to promote the overall development of the Mekong Delta region, including the rice sector.
Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thu-tuong-5-dinh-huong-11-nhiem-vu-de-tao-cuoc-cach-mang-cho-cay-lua-381641.html
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