VietNamNet Bridge - Though Vietnam has spent big money on its national seed production program, it still uses mostly imported seeds for farm produce. Professor Vo Tong Xuan, a renowned agriculture expert in Vietnam, said he is not surprised about the figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) that Vietnam spent $500 million to import more than 8,000 seeds of different kinds in 2013. The imports serve vegetable production on a total area of 700,000 hectares across the country. … [Read more...]

Domestic Press Highlights (09-03-2005) MARD squeezes illegal logging Prime Minister Phan Van Khai asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD) to immediately dismiss corrupt officials who have assisted illegal loggers. Illegal timber exploitation caught the attention of the Prime Minister when news sources revealed several serious cases of illegal timber exploitation with the help of forest rangers. One case recently took place in Sa Thay Forest in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Kontum. The MARD and chairmen of the people's committees of provinces and cities are to be held responsible for any such cases that occur in their areas, the PM said. Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) Dac Lac young entrepreneurs meet The Young Entrepreneurs Association of Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) Province of Dac Lac held its third congress in Buon Ma Thuot Town yesterday. The association included young business people of state and private sectors who have made … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge - The presence of foreigners in the coffee coordination committee, who now work for international coffee groups, has raised the worry that the Vietnamese coffee industry would be swayed by foreigners. The two foreign members of the committee are now the MARD's partners, belonging to the two representative offices of the two multi-national coffee export groups. This has made Vietnamese coffee firms exceedingly astonished. What does the committee do? The coordination committee's major task is acting as the counselor to MARD, who gives strategic advice to the ministry on the issues relating to the coffee industry development in short and long term. A businessman, who is the owner of a coffee joint stock company, said he could not understand why a committee which takes the responsibility of helping map out the development of the Vietnamese coffee industry, needs foreign businessmen. "The ministry (MARD) had not consulted with domestic firms before making the … [Read more...]

The country should further increase the dissemination of information and the inspection in avian flu on humans, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Trinh Quan Huan, during a meeting of the disease prevention on November 1. According to a report of the Ministry of Health (MoH), avian flu is still changing. The disease is spreading in Indonesia. Meanwhile in China, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that a new, strong virus is spreading widely amongst poultry. Therefore, there is a high risk of a recurrence of the disease despite there being no new outbreaks reported over the past eleven months. "Vietnam is preparing for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the dissemination of information and the inspection of avian flu needs to be increased," stressed Mr Huan. The MoH has sent delegations to 55 provinces and cities nationwide to check on the preparation of a quick response to avian flu, worked with WHO to open 19 training courses on … [Read more...]

Vietnam Business Forum has an interview with Mr. Diep Kinh Tan, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. How do you assess the coffee production and export in recent years?In recent years, Vietnamese coffee has recorded fine achievements in output, processing and export, contributing significantly to the agricultural production and national economy. Vietnam has some 500,000 hectares of coffee (mainly in the Central Highlands - 90 percent) with 64.2 percent of high yield crops due to the application of high technology. The output is much higher than the average of the world. Vietnam has become the world second biggest exporter of coffee bean, accounting for 15-17 percent of the market share, and the first position in Robusta coffee (18 million bags, equivalent of 35 percent of the world output). In 2007, the coffee export value was US$1.8 billion. In 2008 it is expected at US$2 billion. The coffee sector has created jobs for over 560,000 households, improved their living … [Read more...]

Accordingly, the region will dedicate around 3.8 million hectares to rice cultivation by 2010, producing 5.2 tons of rice per ha, on average. In total, farmers will produce around 19 million tons of rice per year to meet increasing domestic and foreign demand. The ministry predicts up to 5 million tons of rice will be exported, raising average household income to between US$700 and US$750 a year. Presently, farmers gain VND20 million (US$1,250) for every ha of land or fisheries they own annually. To reach the ministry's goal for the region, production yields will have to increase by VND13 million in just 3 years. Ministry officials are hoping their objectives will help reduce the number of poor households in the region from 9 per cent to as low as 4 per cent. Additionally, all rural homes must have electricity and 400,000 new jobs should be created annually under the plan. To meet these targets, the ministry is asking the region's People's Committees to review their production … [Read more...]

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has adopted urgent measures to restore agricultural production and livestock breeding, which were badly affected by the recent prolonged cold spell, epidemics and price hikes. MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat talked about these measures during an interview granted to VOV on the fringe of a March 26-27 meeting in Hanoi with directors of provincial departments of agriculture and rural development, and fisheries. Mr Phat is scheduled to answer law-makers' questions about the soaring prices of materials for agricultural production at a question-time on March 28. VOVNews brings you excerpts from the interview. VOV:What do you think of the soaring price of commodities, particularly food and foodstuffs, in the first quarter of this year? Mr Phat: The fact is that food and foodstuff prices have increased sharply in recent times. First of all, the fluctuations in the price of food in the global market prompted the domestic rice prices to … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge – The Circular No. 47 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) which allows exploiting 160 species of wild beast for commercial purposes has caused big worries. Wildlife protection organizations, forest owners and sanctuaries have all expressed their worries that when many species of wild beast can be exploited for commercial purposes, other wildlife species would also "be involved in misfortune." … [Read more...]

Talking Shop (25-09-2008) MARD develops tra catfish plan An overabundance of tra catfish has made farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta lose hundreds of billions of dong, resulting in 20 per cent of total farmers abandoning tra fish farming. To compound this problem, it has been very difficult to obtain capital for rearing a new crop. … [Read more...]

Epidemics cost nation US$1 billion: MARD (29-10-2005) HA NOI — The country loses about US$1 billion every year to animal disease, avian flu and pests, a report released at a meeting, organised jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the World Bank, said yesterday. While epidemics among animals resulted in a loss of about $400 million, the toll from agricultural pests amounted to another $200 million. According to the report presented at the meeting, which sought to work out an action plan on food hygiene, animal health and plant protection, 117 tree species have been affected by pests, causing a loss ranging from 40 to 100 per cent to farmers of tropical fruits. … [Read more...]