Bac Lieu farmers stuck with salt

BAC LIEU — With the next production season all set to start, farmers in Bac Lieu Province have 134,000 tonnes of black salt still in stock, according to the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

During the last season at the beginning of this year, Bac Lieu, which, at 3,500ha, has the largest salt-production area in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, produced a record output of more than 266,000 tonnes, or two times the quantity produced a year earlier.

Of this, nearly 90 per cent was black salt.

In late June, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had ordered the Northern Food Corporation to buy salt from farmers in Bac Lieu who had around 200,000 tonnes in stock.

The corporation assigned the Bac Lieu Salt Trading Joint-Stock Company to buy 30,000 tonnes.

However, Bac Lieu and other companies could only buy a total of 7,000 tonnes of white salt due to finance, warehousing, and transportation problems.

To help farmers build warehouses to store their stocks, the provincial People's Committee has provided more than 400 of them interest-free loans worth a total of VND1.3 billion (US$68,000). — VNS

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Harbour construction delays raise fears among boat owners

THUA THIEN-HUE — The tardy progress of the construction of a US$2.1 million harbour in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue has left hundreds of boat owners worried for the safety of their vessels during the fast approaching stormy season.

The Phu Hai breakwater project was started in 2008 by the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and was expected to provide safe moorings to 500 boats. It was due for completion in May of this year.

However, the project was still not finished and was unlikely to be completed by the end of this year, said Phan Van Song, Phu Hai Commune's Party Committee Secretary.

Song said that the project's progress was lagging behind because the contractor, Vinashin Infrastructure Construction and Development Company, was short of both construction facilities and human resources.

"The work must be urgent, but there were only a few workers on the construction site," he said.

According to industry expert Tran Cong Dang Tuong, only around 300 metres of the total 625-metre-long breakwater needed had been completed and other sections also remained unfinished.

Phan Thanh Hung, head of the province's Sub-department of Dyke Management, Flood and Storm Control said that relevant parties had agreed to push back the deadline until June 2011.

The province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development did not want to change to another contractor as the process of tendering and the transfer of documents would take too long, Hung said.

Currently there are 4,000 boats and ships operating in the waters off the province and of the 32 harbours available, only 12 were correctly constructed with safe wharves. — VNS

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3.8 million ha reserved for growing rice

Vietnam will keep 3.8 million ha to grow rice to ensure national
food security, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Bui Ba Bong on October 6.

Bong chaired a meeting to
review a master plan for the country’s rice cultivation by 2020 with a
vision towards 2030, to maintain the necessary acreage for the country’s
most important crop, as Vietnam is the world’s second largest rice
exporter.

The report delivered at the meeting warned
that the total acreage available for rice cultivation mapped out by
provinces and cities nationwide for 2020 and towards 2030 is only 3.68
million ha, down by 408,800 ha compared with 2009 and 120,000 ha less
than the target.

The Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
agreed to re-adjust the planning of 33 provinces and cities, mostly in
the country’s two major rice bowls, the Red River Delta and the Mekong
Delta.

The report also put forward solutions to
manage and use the land fund, including State investment in rice growing
areas to improve productivity, issue encouraging policies for
localities to retain their current rice acreage and set up a price
stabilisation fund to ensure a 30 percent profit for rice growers.

According to the Vietnam Food Association, Vietnam is likely to export 7.2 million tonnes of rice this year.

In the first nine months of this year, the country shipped a record
5.55 million tonnes of rice, worth 2.56 billion USD, up nearly 12
percent in volume and 14.5 percent in value./.

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Binh Dinh to host first forest product festival

The first Vietnam Forest Product Festival will take place in Quy Nhon, the central coastal city of Binh Dinh Province, from March 26-29, 2011.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES) and the provincial People’s Committee announced the event on Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City.

Le Huu Loc, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee said that over 400 domestic and international organizations are expected to attend with 700 pavilions.

Besides, seminars to promote trade in this field as well as cultural and culinary festivals will also be held, he added.

Hua Duc Nhi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the festival aims to highlight the contributions of the forestry sector and step up the cooperation among forestry businesses both at home and abroad.

According to the VIFORES, wood products export is scheduled to reach US$3.1 billion this year, becoming one of five major hard currency earners of the country.

Vietnam currently ranks second in Southeast Asia in term of wood products export. Its products are shipped to 120 countries worldwide.

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Binh Dinh to host first forest product festival

The first Vietnam Forest Product Festival will take place in Quy Nhon,
the central coastal city of Binh Dinh province from March 26-29, 2011.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnam Timber
and Forest Product Association (VIFORES) and the provincial People’s
Committee announced the event on September 28 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Le Huu Loc, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee said
that over 400 domestic and international organisations are expected to
attend with 700 pavillions.

Besides, seminars to promote trade in this field as well as cultural and culinary festivals will also be held, he added.

Hua Duc Nhi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said
that the festival aims to highlight the contributions of the forestry
sector and step up the cooperation among forestry businesses both at
home and abroad.

According to the VIFORES, wood
products export is scheduled to reach 3.1 billion USD this year,
becoming one of five major hard currency earners of the country. Vietnam
currently ranks second in Southeast Asia in term of wood products
export. Its products are shipped to 120 countries worldwide./.

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Uncertified food detained at port

HCM CITY — Hundreds of food containers are being kept at HCM City ports as their owners have failed to produce papers, including food-safety certification, as required by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Cat Lai Port alone has kept more than 500 imported containers of frozen meat, dried food and materials for seafood processing.

Dozens of containers are piled up at other ports in the city. Each container weighs between 23 and 25 tonnes.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Circular 25 said that imported frozen meat, dried food and materials for seafood processing must have food-safety certificates as well as lists of production businesses issued by a responsible authority of each country.

The circular, which became effective on September 1, also asked businesses to have licenses for every import shipment and safety certification for imported food issued by the Vietnamese authorities.

Doan Ngoc Tho, who owns a frozen food import company in HCM City, said he did not have these papers and could not finish customs clearance procedures.

More than 20 food containers of his company have been kept at Cat Lai Port for a week.

"I lost more than US$2,000 a day in electric and cold storage fees, " Tho said.

Do Ha Nam, director of HCM City-based Intimex Company, signed a contract to buy frozen food from a foreign company months ago and each day 10 containers arrive at Cat Lai port.

"I lack certification required by the new circular, but I cannot cancel the contract with the foreign company right now," Nam said. More than 40 containers of his company are being kept at the port.

Many company representatives said that Viet Nam had no office responsible for issuing certification of food safety for imported food.

They contacted the ministries of Health as well as Agriculture and Rural Development, and both said they were not responsible.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the Animal Health Zone 6 Centre that manages animal heath and animal products in the south, said officials of several ministries and services should meet to settle the problem and help clear food containers at ports. — VNS

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Farmers lack sound market analysis

HA NOI — Farmers need more analysis and forecasting on local and world markets but the nation doesn't have the high quality research centre necessary to track production trends with confidence.

This was the assessment of two experts in the field of agriculture market policies and analysis who said the 61 million people living in rural areas were being short-changed by the absence of high quality market research and forecasting of domestic and global farm produce trends.

Pham Quang Dieu, chief economist of the Agricultural Market Analysis and Forecast Joint Stock Company (Agrominitor), said that what financial, economic and business analysis was available at present was being provided to enterprises in urban areas.

Farmers, meanwhile, were being left to glean what limited information they could find from the media and they were missing out on opportunities and suffering unnecessary losses.

However, this was about to change, Dieu suggested, and farmers would soon become the main customers of information and analysis on production and marketing of farm produce.

But there wasn't many company or Government department providing the high level of research, analysis and forecasting required, he said, created a potential market opportunity for private companies to fill the vacuum.

However, Dieu said, the State had a role to play and should increase its human resources and level of expertise in this field to make such information widely available to farmers and enterprises.

Dang Kim Son, director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development concurred.

Son's institute, which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has submitted to the ministry a plan to provide better market information for farmers and traders. — VNS

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