Better policy needed in land concentration for agricultural development

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Prof. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

Vietnamese agriculture has been identified as the "pillar" of the economy. However, to really develop the agricultural economy, according to Prof. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, we need a better policy in concentrating and accumulating land.

What do you think about the current situation of agricultural land management in Vietnam?

- Since 2013, Vietnam has determined that the agricultural economy would be a spearhead economic sector. To do so, in addition to processing, services, and export, making agricultural products is a very important matter, the "root" of the issue.

The ownership relationship is very interesting, if in the past the big concern was the relationship between landlords and farmers, now the relationship of ownership is different. That is the relationship between individual farmers, including rich farmers, poor farmers; there are even farms, there are businesses associated with farmers..

However, these matters have not been clarified in the 2013 Land Law.

There are concerns that have been raised such as whether there will be a new class of landlords, but I think it is not a worry. The experience of many countries showed that, in fact, the new landlords are enterprises, not farmers. The revision of the 2013 Land Law, related to agricultural land, still has many issues to study and implement. The first is to let farmers feel secure in farming; second, a number of farmers who moved to the non-agricultural sector were still able to move in a good way.

It is said that Vietnam's agriculture has been developed mainly on the basis of individual farmer households with small and scattered fields, which is difficult to develop. This partly reflects the current unstable situation of management and use of agricultural land in Vietnam. What is your opinion?

- Firstly, the allocation of land by cooperatives to individual households according to the provisions of the 1993 Land Law and the 1994 Government Decree is an excellent land policy. Because, this has liberated the labor of farmers, or in other words, liberated production power, thereby turning Vietnam's agriculture from an agricultural economy that does not have enough rice for the people to become an agricultural economy that can export rice to other countries.

However, at present, Vietnam's agricultural products only have certain types that are exported to "fastidious" markets such as the US and EU at high prices. The vast majority of goods are still mainly exported to China. Recently, thousands of agricultural vehicles have been stuck at the border gate for export to China.

The policy of allocating land by cooperatives to individual households is a good policy, but it has not been effective. After many years, the export power of the agricultural industry is good, but Vietnam's agriculture is still divided into small pieces and there is no way to regroup.

The current problem is concentrating and accumulating land to have large-scale agriculture; only then will we be able to apply high technology to agricultural production. Thereby, we will have higher quality agriculture, aiming to conquer "difficult" export markets with higher prices. At that time, Vietnamese agriculture was able to escape the scene of thousands of vehicles waiting in line at the Chinese border.

In your opinion, can farmers stick to the land, especially the poor, can live stably and develop sustainably from the exploitation and use of agricultural land? What key points need to be changed in the provisions of the law on agricultural land?

- When farmers feel that their income from agricultural land is enough to live on, they will automatically "love" agricultural land. That is the law of nature. Many people now talk about the problem of leaving wasteland, that's because farming does not help people earn enough to live like in other jobs, for example working in construction.

Korea and Japan also have flexible handling. For example, Japan has created "banks" of farmland. Those who have unused agricultural land deposit this in the "bank" and earn a certain interest. In Korea, they created an agricultural land acquisition center. This center is non-profit but has a social coordination role to make sure that farmland is used for certain agricultural purposes. The center makes agricultural land frequently used. Notably, countries such as Japan and Korea do not penalize people for leaving agricultural land, but use many ways to use agricultural land when it is abandoned.

The second thing I want to mention is what Vietnam should do to accumulate and concentrate land when agricultural land falls into a fragmented state. The problem is to build a new production relationship. For example, Vietnam must be active in the transfer of land use rights in cases where farmers really do not need agricultural land, switching to non-agricultural workers.

When they have secure income from the non-agricultural sector, they should be encouraged to transfer to those who are able to concentrate their land. Those who have a lot of land, bringing benefits to many other workers in the agricultural area, must be welcomed and have supportive policies. In general, land consolidation and accumulation still need better policies.

Thank you Sir!