The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has just coordinated with the People's Committee of Gia Lam district to organize the "Agricultural Extension Forum @ Farmers' Bridge". The forum had the participation of more than 200 delegates who are farmers, farm owners, and cooperative directors in Gia Lam district; along with a team of advisors who are leading experts and scientists.

Timely response to concerns

Over the years, Van Duc Agricultural Service Cooperative has regularly received support from the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Gia Lam District in training production techniques for its members. However, in order to continue to effectively maintain the production and business of 250 hectares of safe vegetables, Director of Van Duc Agricultural Service Cooperative Nguyen Van Minh proposed that the City, Gia Lam District People's Committee, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development continue to support the commune in accessing preferential loans and production land funds.

Answering this question, Deputy Director of Hanoi Agricultural Extension Center Doan Duc Dan said: Regarding credit policy, Van Duc Agricultural Service Cooperative has accessed loan capital from the City Agricultural Extension Fund by mortgaging assets (Land Use Rights Certificates) of members participating in the Cooperative Management Board.

Regarding loans to develop production in association with credit institutions, Resolution No. 08/2023/NQ-HDN of the Hanoi People's Council stipulates a number of policies to encourage agricultural development in the city, stating very clearly: The city will support the interest rate of loans from credit institutions for a period of 3 years, corresponding to the disbursement progress. This interest rate is paid according to the loan contract between the borrowing unit and the lending unit.

Regarding land, according to Mr. Doan Duc Dan, this is not only an issue in Gia Lam but also in most districts in the area. The most prominent of which is the term of the contract that farmers and farm owners sign with the locality to build the farm model, previously regulated as 5 years. To facilitate and encourage farmers and cooperatives to develop production, the Land Law (amended) and the Capital Law (amended) which are about to be implemented will certainly resolve the shortcomings and obstacles related to land lease contracts of households and land leases of localities. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to advise the City People's Committee to issue specific guidance documents to localities and people.

Convert and develop production in a modern direction

Regarding the orientation of agricultural development, Vice Chairman of Gia Lam District People's Committee Truong Van Hoc said: although the goal is to develop into a district by the end of 2024, Gia Lam always identifies the fields of agriculture, farmers, and rural areas as a task of regular investment interest. Every year, the district has invested tens of billions of VND to encourage production and support farmers in seeds and techniques, fertilizers, pesticides, building pilot models of new crop varieties, high-tech agricultural models, etc.

The strong urbanization process has caused the agricultural land area to shrink, the district's agricultural production also has to face many difficulties and challenges in terms of market prices, unstable output, unpredictable climate change, and extreme weather. However, the agricultural economic structure is still shifting positively, many new scientific advances are applied to production, and the productivity and quality of crops and livestock have all increased.

The total value of agricultural production in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated at more than 606 billion VND, reaching 54.6% of the annual plan and increasing by 1.92% over the same period in 2023. Currently, Gia Lam district has 1,070 hectares of rice, over 1,000 hectares of various vegetables, more than 1,800 hectares of concentrated fruit trees; more than 300 hectares of ornamental flowers and plants; 660 hectares of mixed farms... The district has a total herd of over 6,800 buffaloes and cows, of which 1,952 are dairy cows with an estimated milk output of 17 tons/day; 298,000 poultry and waterfowl; and 265 hectares of aquaculture area.

Notably, the total number of livestock households in the area is 3,400 (about 85% of households are small-scale farmers in residential areas). Implementing Resolution 02/NQ-HDND dated July 7, 2020 of the Hanoi People's Council, up to now, Trau Quy town and Yen Vien town of the district no longer raise livestock and poultry. In the communes of Van Duc, Trung Mau, Phu Dong, Le Chi, Dang Xa with a total planning area of ​​20.3 hectares, plans are also being implemented to move livestock farming out of residential areas.

“Small-scale, fragmented, unstable agricultural production, not yet able to combine production with preliminary processing, processing and product consumption… is always a concern of managers and farmers. Therefore, the Agricultural Extension Forum @ Farmers’ Bridge is an opportunity to help farmers apply scientific and technological advances to production to reduce costs, increase profits, as well as reorganize production, contributing to improving economic efficiency, towards sustainable agricultural development.”- Mr. Truong Van Hoc informed.