City district eyes urban farming

Vegetables in HCM City’s Hóc Môn District are planted under Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practice (VietGAP) standards. - VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh

Ho Chi Minh City –  The outlying district of Hóc Môn in HCM City plans to focus on urban farming as part of the national “new-style rural area” programme in which it takes part.

Lê Thanh Liêm, deputy chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said that urban farming could increase the income of local residents, which is an aim of the new rural area programme.  

Liêm spoke at a seminar in Hóc Môn District on Thursday (April 12) on the status of the district’s new rural areas and tasks for the rest of the year.

Hóc Môn’s urban farming models are considered effective, including cultivation of honeydew melons, mushrooms and orchids in net houses, the farming of hydroponic vegetables and breeding of ornamental fish.

Nguyễn Sĩ Phước, deputy head of the district’s Farmers Association, said that urban farming models are equipped with modern facilities and bring high profits to farmers.

Training courses on advanced farming techniques have been regularly organised by the district. 

The district’s 17 agricultural co-operatives and 20 agricultural co-operative teams also operate effectively, he said.

In the 2016-17 period, the district’s 10 communes have met an average of 10 of the 19 criteria set under the national target programme for new-style rural areas.

Last year, the average annual income of residents in Hóc Môn reached VNĐ51 million (US$2,200) per capita.

The district aims to have annual income VNĐ63 million ($2,770) per capita by 2020, according to the district’s People’s Committee.

Đỗ Thị Lâm Tuyền, deputy chairwoman of the People’s Committee, said the district had mobilised more than VNĐ3.16 trillion ($139 million) from various sources to implement the programme.

The district’s 178 farmer households have also donated more than 7,400 sq.m of land to upgrade and expand roads in the 2016-17 period.

Farming households have contributed more than 2,000 days of work to dredge drainage ditches, and to consolidate embankments and lanes in fields.  

Despite these improvements, participants at the seminar said that slow investment in infrastructure was hindering progress.

The district has 18 rural roads under construction that are behind schedule because of land clearance obstacles.

Phước said that each commune in the district should establish at least one more modern farming model to improve agricultural value. The models should focus on the district’s key products like vegetables, mushrooms, orchids and ornamental plants.

The district’s 50-ha water spinach area, which is planted under Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practice standards, has a stable outlet.

Nguyễn Cư, secretary of the district’s Party Committee, said the new rural area programme had helped improve the lives of residents.