The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will propose the Government to issue a specialized Resolution on supporting agricultural production recovery after storm Yagi.

Speaking to the press, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that storm No. 3 (storm Yagi) has caused serious damage to the agricultural sector. In particular, the aquaculture and livestock sectors have suffered heavy losses.

Deputy Minister, can you tell us how storm No. 3 has affected agricultural production in general, especially the growth rate of the industry?

- Preliminary estimates up to this point, storm No. 3 has flooded about 200,000 hectares of rice; damaged 50,000 hectares of crops; damaged about 61,000 hectares of fruit trees... Particularly for livestock and aquaculture, the damage is very severe, while these are also the two areas with the highest growth rates in the agricultural sector.

According to preliminary calculations, storm No. 3 initially caused damage to the fisheries industry of about 2,500 billion VND; livestock damage of 2,000 billion VND.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment estimates that the growth of the agricultural sector will decline by about 0.3%, which is double the national average (0.15%). In the northern provinces, rice and fruit production is not very large, so the damage in the crop sector can be quickly overcome by boosting production in the Mekong Delta; as for the season, the places that have suffered damage no longer have the season to produce rice, instead they will speed up the winter crop.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien.

Accordingly, the Ministry will direct the winter-spring production conference. In fact, with vegetable products, it only takes about 25-30 days to harvest; fruit trees will gradually recover. Similarly, with aquaculture, the Ministry will also hold a conference on production recovery after storm No. 3, and will invite provinces to come up with solutions.

As for forestry, there are no specific figures yet, but it is estimated that about 500,000 hectares have been damaged. For planted forest areas, we can harvest fallen trees to make pellets and wood chips, and at the same time prepare seedlings for new planting in the spring.

Dear Deputy Minister, for livestock and aquaculture production, the damage is very severe and it takes a long time to recover. Can the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development advise farmers on solutions to shorten the farming time, so that they can have products in time to serve the year-end market?

- In fact, for industrial chickens, it takes just over 1 month to be ready for sale; colored chickens are raised for over 3 months; ducks and geese for meat only need 45-50 days; pigs are old enough to be ready for sale after 4-5 months. Thus, from now until Tet and after Tet, there are still more than 4 months, we can completely recover the amount of products damaged by storm No. 3 and promptly serve the Tet market.

What does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development propose to the Government regarding debt relief, debt extension, and insurance benefits for livestock and aquaculture farm owners who have suffered losses?

- With the experience of overcoming storm and flood damage in previous years, especially the 2020 storm in the Central region as well as the experience of overcoming damage from African swine fever in 2019, avian influenza..., if support is provided according to Decree 02/2017/ND-CP, it will not be suitable for the practical situation. Therefore, we will propose that the Government issue a specialized Resolution on supporting production recovery after storm No. 3.

This will be an important document for us to achieve the most important goal of restoring production in affected provinces.

Storm No. 3 and subsequent floods caused serious damage to agricultural production. Photo: N.Chuong.

In livestock and aquaculture, many households have to borrow large amounts of capital for production. So what does the Ministry propose to support people in debt extension, debt forgiveness, and insurance payment, Deputy Minister?

- Large-scale livestock and aquaculture farmers today all apply very modern farming scales and methods, especially marine farming, but there are currently households suffering huge losses, from tens of billions to hundreds of billions of dong.

As I said above, to solve this problem, the Ministry will first propose to the Government to issue a specialized Resolution on supporting production recovery after storm No. 3, because this is a storm of such a large scale that the previous Resolution 42 could not cover it all. Secondly, regarding implementation solutions, the Ministry will assign Deputy Ministers in charge of the fields to meet with localities and industry associations to support technical solutions, breeds, materials, food, etc.

Third, the Government is requested to have specific debt suspension and extension solutions for businesses and households that have suffered losses. In particular, it is necessary to continue to resolve insurance and reinsurance issues to develop aquaculture, livestock farming and other fields more sustainably.

Immediately after the conference chaired by the Prime Minister on September 15, on the afternoon of September 16, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a meeting to implement the Prime Minister's instructions. The Ministry will issue a document recommending the Government and the State Bank to direct commercial banks, based on confirmation from localities, to postpone, extend debt repayment, freeze debt, reduce interest rates, and even provide support so that people can soon have resources to reproduce in the shortest time.

Ms. Dang Thi Lan (Hong Ha 2 village, My Tan commune, Nam Dinh city, Nam Dinh province) cleans up bouquets of chrysanthemums rotted by storms. Photo: Mai Chien.

How will the damage that has occurred affect the food supply at the end of the year, Deputy Minister?

- According to the set target, this year marine farming alone must reach 850,000 tons of seafood; export 800 million to 1 billion USD; livestock must reach 8 million tons of meat, over 20 billion eggs, however, with the damage caused by storm No. 3, the growth rate of these two sectors will be significantly affected.

To address food needs from now until the end of the year, especially before, during and after Tet, the Ministry will direct businesses and industry associations to join in supporting breeding animals, food and materials to quickly restore production, provide enough supply for consumption to quickly recover CPI, reduce the impact on exports and keep growth at the lowest level.

With this situation, does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development consider reducing export output, for example rice, to compensate for the North?

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is determined to achieve the Government's target on agricultural exports and will not adjust the targets.

We have experience in dealing with the consequences of storms and floods in the Central region in 2020 as well as previous years. Although the floodwaters were high at that time, as soon as the floodwaters receded, the entire political system, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, industry associations, businesses, localities, and all forces worked together to immediately restore production in a timely manner, and I am confident that we will be able to do it this year as well.

Thank you very much, Deputy Minister!

Source: https://danviet.vn/bo-nnptnt-se-de-xuat-chinh-phu-ban-hanh-nghi-quyet-chuyen-de-ve-ho-tro-phuc-hoi-san-xuat-sau-bao-yagi-20240920161046843.htm