The agricultural sector aims to reduce rice production losses from 12 per cent currently down to 5-6 per cent by 2020. There are also plans to increase export value by 20-25 per cent.
These targets were announced by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat at a conference to look at ways to increase the added value in agricultural production last week in Ha Noi.
Phat said that the Government would supply 40,000 modern rice dryers to farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong )Delta, where currently only 10,000 are in use. He said the Government would also help to renovate rice storage facilities and by 2013, make it possible to store 100,000 tonnes of rice in the Hong (Red River) Delta and 4 million tonnes in the Mekong Delta, almost triple the current capacity. Ports used specifically for rice exports would also be built while agricultural production processing centres would be developed to accompany wholesale markets and cut out unnecessary fees, Phat added.
He urged enterprises to actively look for ways to give added value to their produce, and search for steady, reliable partners, rather than deal sporadically with small, random businesses.
Enterprises should also try to minimise risks by taking preventive measures to avoid epidemics and cope with the consequences of natural disasters, he said.
Vu Trong Binh, director of the Agriculture Development Centre under MARD said in order to increase value, enterprises should concentrate on building a professional brand and developing brand recognition.
High input fees were also an issue because Viet Nam depended on imports, while export infrastructure remained poor, according to Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, director of the Agricultural Policy Advisory Centre under MARD. He also suggested that improved transport infrastructure in the form of large ports and railways would aid the Mekong Delta.
The agricultural sector has grown rapidly over the last 20 years, with rice exports reaching a record US$3 billion while coffee exports hit $2 billion last year. Despite this, many farmers still had poor living conditions, so increasing added value was imperative, said the minister.
http://en.baomoi.com/Info/Agricultural-sector-to-cut-rice-output-losses/6/146082.epi
Deprecated: strpos(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($haystack) of type string is deprecated in /home/agriviek8Qv/agriviet.net/public_html/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 2522