Vegetable, fruit, flower should be listed national key products

Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan proposed the Government to consider putting vegetable, flower and fruit into the group of national key products at the plenary session of the parliament yesterday morning.

According to Mr. Nhan, statistics in 2016 showed that the income of nearly 40 percent of residents in urban area averaged VND4.4 million a person a month while the average income of rural people was much lower than that.

He queried how to increase income of people in rural and mountainous areas where industrialization cannot take place fast.

Vegetable, flower and fruit sector has posted outstanding growth for the last five years. Crude oil export value reduced $5 billion, rice was down $900 million, coffee stable and seafood up 5 percent a year.

Meantime, vegetable, fruit and flower was up 30 percent a year on average. The sector's export turnover is forecast to reach US$9-10 billion by 2022, much higher than crude oil export value at peak time.

So far, the country has determined 12 national key products including rice, catfish, mushroom, coffee and shrimp.

Mr. Nhan proposed the Government to supplement vegetable, flower and fruit to the group of national key products and develop farming in provinces. That is a relatively effective direction to reduce poverty.