Science and tech researches promoted for new-style rural development

The science and technology program for new-style rural development was approved in 2012 with a total budget of more than 9.5 million USD. After 5 years, the program has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam’s agriculture.

Greenhouse farm in My Thang commune, Nam Dinh province (Photo: Vu Sinh/nhandan)

The program has proposed many models in agricultural production, scientific and technological solutions to rural infrastructure development and mitigation of the impacts of climate change.

More than 5,000 farmer households in 100 communes in 40 provinces have benefited from the program, helping the localities and cooperatives restructure crops and farm animals.

Tran Kim Lien of the Vietnam National Seed Company under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said: “The program has applied mechanization and sustainable cultivation measures to turn out safe products and increase productivity, helping to change the division of labor and production thinking to serve agricultural production restructuring. The output of products has been ensured and brand building has been promoted.”

To implement the program from now until 2020, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong underscored the need to fine-tune legal documents.

He said: “The Vietnamese agriculture will earn 40 billion USD from exports soon. To this end, we need to focus on Vietnamese farm and program to build new-style rural areas after 2020 under which Vietnam plans to have 50% of communes meet new-style rural norms. We should clarify theory, mechanism, and policy issues to restructure agriculture and complete new-style rural development.”

According to Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, head of the steering committee of the National Target Programs on building new rural development said more attention should be made to promoting effective production models, preservation of regional cultures, new-style rural development in line with urbanization, and agricultural industrialization, and ensuring the security and safety of rural people.

Mr. Hue said: “New-style rural development is a process with a starting point but with no cut-off point. Following the new-style rural development program, we must have a role model program for rural development with certain criteria. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is piloting the program in 5 districts and several communes.”

Cao Duc Phat, Deputy Chief of the Party Central Committee Commission for Economics Commission, said: “It’s necessary to pay more attention to developing cultural life in rural areas. In addition to researching financial mechanisms and technical models, rural society and new-style rural development issues should be more focused.”