‘Agriculture will not be struggling to plant anything, raise what children’

Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development Le Minh Hoan answered his interview VnExpress of his plans for the new position.

– What will be the priority work to direct in the future?

– The term of 5 years is thought to be long, but the world is constantly changing, everything changes rapidly year by year, month, week or day. Therefore, I think to act immediately, turn new challenges into thrust, seize timely opportunities, mobilize thinking resources inside and outside the apparatus to contribute to bringing agriculture to continue taking off; Rural areas are changed towards a modern, rich identity, improving the quality of life for farmers.

Industrial revolution 4.0 has been and will be happening at an ever higher rate. Therefore, the first thing I am concerned with is that Vietnam’s agriculture is not “missed”, and we do not simply judge the growth of the agricultural sector based solely on productivity, output, but also on integrating value, going in depth, having sustainability.

I think that there must be solutions to the knowledge economy to penetrate agricultural production and each farmer. The circular economy must develop further, turning agricultural by-products into products of higher added value. The value chain of agricultural products must be formed, replacing the vulnerable chain of interests due to conflicts of interests of stakeholders and market events.

I expect that in the near future, Vietnamese agriculture will successfully build a brand of clean, safe and high-quality agricultural products. In order for this goal to become a reality, the efforts and individual desires of an individual, even the head of the agricultural sector, will not be enough, but it will need the cooperation and commitment of an entire ecosystem. , including the participation of farmers, producers, businesses, institutes, schools, scientists, including media …

– Formerly Secretary of Dong Thap, how will you bring successful local experiences into the general development of agriculture in the country?

Five years ago, Dong Thap started to restructure agriculture with a consistent viewpoint: This is not a matter of determining what to plant, what to raise, how much to grow, how much to raise, because of this market. will adjust, decide. But no matter what tree to plant, how much to plant; What to raise and how much to raise are based on three core factors: “cooperation, association, and market”.

Co-operate This is reflected in the fact that farmers and production establishments together remove the small and fragmented “knot” through the forms of collective economy, cooperatives, farmers’ society … Accordingly, the farmers people do not stand out, but are encouraged to join together to take advantage of the power of the masses, reduce costs, increase quality, and apply the results of science and technology, science and technology.

Link is the connection between producers and businesses. It is a vital factor because farmers cannot go into production without knowing where the market is, how much they need, and how to produce products with standards and standards. These things businesses are very knowledgeable through channels of negotiation and information capture. When knowing the market’s requirements through information sharing and linkage mechanism, people will be more active in production.

Market Deciding on both producers and consumers, so farmers and businesses need to target the market as their top priority. It is impossible to optimize production when the output is ambiguous, heavy on puzzles, depending on the chance of the market.

The key is to choose your target. The previous goal was to focus on supply, trying to produce more output because we think that the higher the output, the higher the profit of the farmer, the greater the growth of the agricultural sector. However, the market economy does not define that. Small production but higher quality, higher value, low cost, still have higher profit. For example, ST25 rice compared with other varieties, the yield is not as high, but its value is very high.

– In which direction will the agricultural restructuring go when it is no longer determined “what crops to grow, what children to raise”, sir?

– We must move from production thinking to agrarian economics thinking. The view that “agriculture is an economic industry, not just a mere production” will activate a variety of new approaches, integrate added value, and open up many opportunities for development.

In addition, agriculture must integrate multiple values, not unit values ​​anymore because buyers now buy goods also interested in the value and utility of goods and products, not just price. . The market has changed, shifting from the need to “eat well” to “eat well”, “eat clean, safe, and nutritious”. Therefore, production must also divide many streams according to the needs of society. Besides solving the problem for the majority, we must respond in the direction of “personalizing” the needs of a group of users with different needs.

We are assigning a research unit to create a chain of goods in each commune, the State will support farmers, producer households, cooperatives of primary processors, conservators, technologies and techniques. fit.

– We want all farmers to be well trained and certified to be trained. “Professionalization” Agriculture is an urgent requirement and helps farmers to develop more sustainably and limit market risks.

We cannot immediately have a roadmap. The State must have the responsibility to support the training, training and training for farmers. Dong Thap has opened such training courses, farmers can go to school, know what food safety and hygiene, the law of supply and demand, sustainable development, both production and environmental protection …

Someone will say “I don’t ask for anything from the government, what I eat, my loss, why do the government force me to do this and that?” But if the driver has to go to school, test, get a license because their actions affect the safety of road users, farmers are also related to food safety and hygiene, affecting their health. healthy community, impacting on natural environment.

Unsafe food caused by farmers’ abuse of plant protection drugs, harming firstly the health of the producer, the health of the consumer, and at the same time imbalances the ecosystem and the natural environment. , impact biodiversity – it is a valuable resource for the whole community, for generations of people, not just one person.

Therefore, I sincerely hope you all understand this training certification story. Knowledge is a way to help people protect themselves, farming responsibly, thereby creating a brand of Vietnamese agricultural products.

– As a product maker, but farmers are weak, have a bad season, and output is not stable. What do you say about this?

– The farmer needs to realize that his life is decided by himself. To do so, the farmer must have a strong will, positive thinking, instead of mourning, reprimanding or relying on dependence. Current agriculture cannot follow the harmonious natural law, “look heaven, look earth, look clouds” anymore, because agriculture farmers are facing climate change such as extreme weather, greenhouse effects. depletion of water resources.

To create remarkable added value instead of gradual increase in productivity and output, farmers must have knowledge corresponding to the knowledge economy. To optimize their life, farmers must be equipped with commercial, technological, and biological skills, not just mere production skills. In order to improve their position in the society, farmers have to get out of the way of thinking that they only know “smart hard work”, but have to confidently develop, assert themselves, actively integrate into the community. copper.

Besides, the whole system must have many programs to support the training and training of farmers in the new stage. Thinking “each district is a fortress”; “Everyone’s house lights are on, everyone’s fields do” need to be radically changed, because only when linked with each other, the farmer no longer falls into a weak position.

The State will also have solutions to build “commodity value chains”, “industry ecosystems”; urges many investors to participate in the “linking public – agricultural clusters”. In addition, “agricultural product supply – demand data” will be collected and transparently to form “agricultural product exchanges” under the support of digital technology.

When there are complete, timely and accurate data, suppliers and consumers will have points to meet about the quantity, price, time, payment method … Main planning and implementation agencies The book also relies on this data to analyze and adjust policies to support production and development, and impact on the market in a suitable, flexible and timely manner.