“Hot” rice production and IUU

Minister Le Minh Hoan informed that in the first 7 months of the year, the total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products reached 29.13 billion USD, down 9.1% over the same period. Most worryingly, although the output of exploitation and aquaculture increased compared to the same period, the export turnover of this sector only reached 4.95 billion USD, down 25.4% over the same period.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue assessed the question and answer session as high quality, practical, and meeting voters' wishes. (Screenshot)

There are 4 groups of advantageous products that have taken advantage of the opportunity to boost exports, bringing in outstanding turnover compared to the same period, such as: Vegetables, coffee, cashew nuts. Rice exports alone increased by 29.6% and are forecast to continue to increase in the remaining months of this year when India and some countries have stopped exporting rice and Thailand recommends reducing rice growing areas to avoid the El Nino phenomenon...

“The difficulties in agricultural exports still exist, and the slow recovery of market demand is due to market fluctuations from global instability,” said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan. At the same time, he said that amid the challenges, there are still many opportunities, especially in the rice sector, so it is necessary to be flexible in ensuring food security and safety for domestic consumption while proactively sourcing to meet export demand.

The meeting conducted questions and answers on the agricultural sector, with the hot topics being rice cultivation and combating IUU fishing. (Screenshot)

According to calculations, in 2023, the output is estimated to reach 43.1 million tons of rice (an increase of over 452 thousand tons over the same period); the export rice output is estimated at 7.0 million tons (equivalent to 29.5 million tons of rice). According to the Minister, the current rice production situation is still only a short-term forecast, while the world situation in this industry is constantly changing, requiring flexibility and adaptation to the volatile market.

Talking about production relationships, the head of the agricultural sector wants to effectively shift the mindset from buying and selling to a cooperative mindset, without breaking the production chain and must be digitized in the direction of a collective economy, suitable for the times.

Responding to questions, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shared many contents about agriculture, farmers, and rural areas. (Screenshot)

"In agriculture, the income of rice farmers is the lowest, it cannot be said otherwise, although in reality there have been many changes. The increase in income for rice farmers is not only based on high rice prices, high rice exports, but also on the production process, in which the more production inputs are reduced, the more income will increase. In addition, the income of people on rice-growing land now comes not only from rice grains, but also from fish, shrimp, crabs, and then eco-tourism, rural tourism... That is the circular economy, green growth, that the agricultural sector is aiming for, not only on rice-growing land", the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shared.

National Assembly deputies Nguyen Quoc Han and Nguyen Duy Thanh attended the question and answer session at the Ca Mau bridge.

To further demonstrate the above information, regarding the strategic vision, the Minister said that priority is given to perfecting legal policies to develop brands and trademarks of key agricultural products; organizing sustainable agricultural production according to the goals and orientations of the Strategy for Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development and specific solutions in ongoing projects, such as: "Piloting the construction of standard agricultural and forestry raw material areas to serve domestic consumption and export in the period of 2022-2025"; "Ensuring food safety, improving the quality of agricultural, forestry and fishery products associated with the consumption market"; "Promoting the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to 2030"... In addition, continuing to accelerate the development of the Project "Sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta"; Project "Developing a logistics system to improve the quality and competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products by 2030, with a vision to 2050"...

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan requested that localities need to actively participate, strictly comply with regulations, and be flexible in managing rice-growing land areas.

Regarding the situation of combating IUU fishing, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that there has been much progress, such as the basic legal framework has met international requirements; the management of the fleet has had many positive changes; the implementation of control of imported aquatic products according to the provisions of the PSMA Agreement has generally improved compared to before. "Removing the IUU yellow card is a drastic action demonstrating commitment and responsibility in deep international integration; the goal is to restore reserves and increase the diversity of aquatic resources. That is to reduce the intensity of exploitation, change occupations from exploitation to aquaculture", the Minister clearly expressed his point of view.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan requested that there should be strong enough sanctions, demonstrating determination in strictly handling violations against IUU fishing.

Answering questions at the meeting hall this afternoon, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien informed about the orientation of goods supply, market expansion to increase agricultural export output, contributing to increasing the value of agricultural products. The question session had many contents related to the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment, Finance, and Health./.

Tran Nguyen

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