The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) organised a conference on rural development in the Mekong delta in An Giang province on May 19, drawing the participation of representatives from the 13 Mekong delta provinces and cities, and ministries and sectors. In the past five-year period (2000-2005), provinces and cities in the Mekong delta issued many incentive mechanisms and open policies for agriculture and rural development. An Giang province devised a strategy for rural development for the 2000-2010 period and a vision for 2020, incentive policies aimed at mobilising all resources, particularly rural inner strength and tapping effectively land and labour potential.

Meanwhile, southern Long Xuyen and Soc Trang provinces increasingly encouraged private economic development to attract talents and investment to industrial and economic clusters.

Rural infrastructure facilities in the Mekong delta have been further developed through major movements such as concretising rural roads, building flood control areas, and removing shabby houses and one-trunk bamboo bridges.

So far, 85 percent of communes have large roads running to the city centre and 92 percent of local households have access to electricity.

During the reviewed period, the Mekong delta made great strides in boosting agricultural production with a focus on expanding land areas for cultivation and shifting crop and animal restructure towards promoting commodity production and increasing economic value.

In addition, local Party organisations and administrations were actively engaged in developing production and business models of high economic efficiency. As a result, economic value earning from 1 hectare of cultivated land increased from VND 20.2 million/ha in 2000 to VND 28 million in 2005.

Thousands of hectares of uncultivated and submerged land in Long Xuyen became a key area for agro-forestry and aquaculture production in 2005. New production models for flood-prone areas were developed in a more effective way. Accordingly, the flood season was turned into major production season of the year. Last year, the whole region used 300,000 hectares of low-yield rice-growing areas to raise aquaculture and plant vegetables and fruit trees of high economic value.

Many localities conducted researches and applied scientific and technological advances in agricultural production. The province of An Giang applied bio-technology in cultivation activities and used new artificial reproductive technology to develop aquaculture. Together with agricultural development, other rural economic sectors also expanded with a strong focus on agro-forestry and aquaculture processing, small-industrial and handicraft production, trade and agricultural services to generate jobs for thousands of labourers.

Notably, the model of farmers’ co-operative groups has become a key collective economic model of the Mekong Delta and there are now as many as 38,000 co-operative groups, accounting for 45 percent of the country’s total number.

Over the past five years, the whole region has developed and merged these co-operative groups into 250 co-operatives, helping to promote the restructuring of agricultural economic production and the application of scientific and technological advances in production activities in many localities.

After the conference, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will work out orientations for rural development in the Mekong Delta in the coming period, from which the Government will issue new suitable policies for the region.

Source: VOV news 21/05/2006