State to develop fertiliser plan

The control of fertiliser production and distribution systems, to be
approved this month, is expected to benefit both farmers and businesses.

Speaking at a conference on Oct. 12 outlining fertiliser production
development for the next 10 years, the Deputy Minister of Industry and
Trade (MIT), Nguyen Hai Nam , said fertiliser is a strategic product
that helps ensure national food security.

Although
the Government has cooperated closely with the Vietnam Fertiliser
Association in planning fertiliser production and quality, farmers are
still faced with shortages and "price fever" when demand soars before
planting, said Phung Ha, head of MIT's Department of Chemicals.

Secretary of the association Nguyen Hac Thuy said there has been no
clear development strategy for the fertiliser industry and that demand
is unpredictable.

According to the association,
farmers lose 1.2 trillion VND (60 million USD) each year due to the
low-quality and fake fertiliser products.

This
year, the nation's demand for fertiliser is forecast to reach 9.1
million tonnes, but domestic production can satisfy only 60 percent of
this.

A report from An Giang University's Economics
Faculty claims farmers have to buy fertilisers at prices 30-40 percent
higher than those offered by producers. They often have to buy
low-quality products from small firms because State authorities can only
supervise large fertiliser companies.

Ha said one
of the reasons fertiliser prices are often unstable was that
distribution systems develop spontaneously. Products come to farmers
through many middlemen.

Ha said when planning is
approved, fertiliser distribution systems will develop based on the
establishment of agricultural economic areas, demand in each area, the
characteristics of local economic activities and farmers' purchasing
practices.

Under the plan, from now to 2015,
fertiliser distribution centres will be set up in Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Bac
Giang, Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Dac Lac, Lam
Dong, Long An, An Giang, Can Tho and Kien Giang.

Ha
said to make planning more efficient, State agencies should change
their ways of management. He added that producers must be granted
certificates setting out conditions for business required by the
Ministry of Industry and Trade. Otherwise they should not be allowed to
trade.

He said this would help weed out small-scale companies using old technology and those producing low-quality fertiliser./.

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Enterpirses urge fertiliser development strategy

Fertiliser prices have increased following the appreciation of the US dollar against the Vietnamese dong as well as higher prices on the global market

There has been no clear development strategy for the fertiliser industry and that demand is unpredictable, has said the industry association.

 The control of fertiliser production and distribution systems, to be approved this month, is expected to benefit both farmers and businesses.

At a recent conference outlining fertiliser production development for the next 10 years, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade (MIT), Nguyen Hai Nam , said fertiliser is a strategic product that helps ensure national food security.

Although the Government has cooperated closely with the Vietnam Fertiliser Association in planning fertiliser production and quality, farmers are still faced with shortages and "price fever" when demand soars before planting, said Phung Ha, head of MIT's Department of Chemicals.

Secretary of the association Nguyen Hac Thuy said there has been no clear development strategy for the fertiliser industry and that demand is unpredictable.

According to the association, farmers lose VND1.2 trillion (US$60 million) each year due to the low-quality and fake fertiliser products.

This year, the nation's demand for fertiliser is forecast to reach 9.1 million tonnes, but domestic production can satisfy only 60 percent of this.

A report from An Giang University's Economics Faculty claims farmers have to buy fertilisers at prices 30-40 percent higher than those offered by producers. They often have to buy low-quality products from small firms because State authorities can only supervise large fertiliser companies.

Ha said one of the reasons fertiliser prices are often unstable was that distribution systems develop spontaneously. Products come to farmers through many middlemen.

Ha said when planning is approved, fertiliser distribution systems will develop based on the establishment of agricultural economic areas, demand in each area, the characteristics of local economic activities and farmers' purchasing practices.

Under the plan, from now to 2015, fertiliser distribution centres will be set up in Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Dac Lac, Lam Dong, Long An, An Giang, Can Tho and Kien Giang.

Ha said to make planning more efficient, State agencies should change their ways of management.

 He added that producers must be granted certificates setting out conditions for business required by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Otherwise they should not be allowed to trade.

He said this would help weed out small-scale companies using old technology and those producing low-quality fertiliser.

 

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Seminar urges boost in fruit exports

HCM CITY — Closer links need to be forged between farmers, Government, scientists and businesses towards the value of Vietnamese agricultural products, particularly jackfruit and banana, experts said at a seminar yesterday.

Nguyen Lam Vien, director of Vinamit Co, a major producer of jackfruit and other fruit chips, said the State needs to initiate support policies for the sector, including financial support, to ensure that the co-operative model is effective.

Currently, 80 per cent of the processing firms' material purchases are done through intermediary traders. The links between businesses and farmers are not close, and this ends up with the latter making low profits.

The situation needs to be improved quickly in order to avoid the necessity to import produce since businesses have stable, all-year-round demand for raw product in huge quantities. More importantly, they need the best quality products so that their trademarks remain popular all over the world, Vien said.

For instance, Vinamit plans to import raw product from India for jackfruit produce, he added.

Scientists should conduct research to create new high quality seed to help businesses and farmers, and improve cultivation as well as processing efficiency.

New seeds have to meet market demands, especially for processing and export purposes, and businesses should cooperate with scientists in exchanging market information, Vien said.

Effective co-operation between businesses, scientists and farmers would open doors to many more foreign markets, he added.

The Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology's Institute of Tropical Biology informed the seminar of ideal fruit requirements to serve the processing industry. A jackfruit tree has to produce fruits weighing more than 10kg each and produce fruits weighing more than 200kg per tree.

Banana plants have to produce large fruit with diameters of more than 4 centimetres.

Le Duy Minh, chairman of Viet Nam Business and Farming Association said State-scientist-business-farmer co-operation was also necessary to ensure food safety and hygiene.

At the seminar, Vinamit signed a memorandum of understanding on co-operating with scientists and farmers to produce new, high quality seeds. Vinamit would then provide the seeds as well as effective cultivation and harvest know-how to the farmers.

Nguyen Quoc Binh, head of Vinamit Co's Foreign Affairs Department, said his company is currently suffering a severe shortage of raw material for processing. — VNS

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Vedan deal with Dong Nai settled

HCMC – Polluter Vedan Vietnam last Friday signed a minute to compensate nearly VND120 billion for farmers from Long Thanh and Nhon Trach districts in Dong Nai Province for damages cause by its illegal discharge of untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River, but one stakeholder could prevent the deal from going through.

The sum includes VND88.8 billion for farmers in Long Tho and Phuoc An communes in Nhon Trach and VND30.7 billion for Long Phuoc and Phuoc Thai communes in Long Thanh.

Most families in Dong Nai as of September 9 had accepted the compensation offer while only Vien Dong Company still insisted on individually suing Vedan. Vien Dong has demanded compensation for its 28 hectares of farming land in Long Thanh District.

Representatives signing the minute will cooperate with relevant departments to try and persuade Vien Dong to accept the offer. The offer will still take effect even if Vien Dong insists on bringing the lawsuit to the court, as it will be settled in a separate case.

Vedan in the minute pledged to give the sum providing that local farmers would not file a lawsuit for damages. The minute was signed between representatives of farmers’ unions in the locality and Yang Kun Hsiang, general director of the Taiwan-based monosodium glutamate producer.

Vedan would transfer half of the compensation to farmers within seven days of the signing day. The remainder would be transferred on January 14, 2011 at the latest, underwritten by the HCMC branch of Bangkok Bank.

Vedan two years ago was found to discharge untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River. Dong Nai Province suffered most from the pollution.

Vedan has so far headed off lawsuits from angry farmers, tired of waiting for their losses to be paid for, by agreeing to compensate nearly VND220 billion for three affected localities of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCMC. The sum is nine times higher than that initially offered by Vedan.

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Vedan deal with Dong Nai settled

HCMC – Polluter Vedan Vietnam last Friday signed a minute to compensate nearly VND120 billion for farmers from Long Thanh and Nhon Trach districts in Dong Nai Province for damages cause by its illegal discharge of untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River, but one stakeholder could prevent the deal from going through.

The sum includes VND88.8 billion for farmers in Long Tho and Phuoc An communes in Nhon Trach and VND30.7 billion for Long Phuoc and Phuoc Thai communes in Long Thanh.

Most families in Dong Nai as of September 9 had accepted the compensation offer while only Vien Dong Company still insisted on individually suing Vedan. Vien Dong has demanded compensation for its 28 hectares of farming land in Long Thanh District.

Representatives signing the minute will cooperate with relevant departments to try and persuade Vien Dong to accept the offer. The offer will still take effect even if Vien Dong insists on bringing the lawsuit to the court, as it will be settled in a separate case.

Vedan in the minute pledged to give the sum providing that local farmers would not file a lawsuit for damages. The minute was signed between representatives of farmers’ unions in the locality and Yang Kun Hsiang, general director of the Taiwan-based monosodium glutamate producer.

Vedan would transfer half of the compensation to farmers within seven days of the signing day. The remainder would be transferred on January 14, 2011 at the latest, underwritten by the HCMC branch of Bangkok Bank.

Vedan two years ago was found to discharge untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River. Dong Nai Province suffered most from the pollution.

Vedan has so far headed off lawsuits from angry farmers, tired of waiting for their losses to be paid for, by agreeing to compensate nearly VND220 billion for three affected localities of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCMC. The sum is nine times higher than that initially offered by Vedan.

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Farm stockpile plan founders

by Thu Ha

The Government has carried out plans to stockpile surplus agricultural commodities to help stabilise prices on the domestic market and ensure farm incomes while supplies are abundant.

"The primary purpose of this plan is to stabilise prices and help farmers maintain a profit margin," said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong.

Under the plans, when there is a significant price decrease of a particular commodity on the domestic market, the Government will provide major distributors with low-interest loans to help them buy up excess and store excess supply.

In theory, not only farmers but also distributors themselves should benefit from the programme. In reality, however, recent moves to stockpile coffee, rice and salt have had little impact on market prices and benefited farmers and traders far less than expected.

For instance, the Government approved a plan to stockpile 200,000 tonnes of coffee beans over a three-month period ending July 15 and hold the supplies through October 15 to shore up prices.

However, distributors were only able to access the low-interest bank loans at mid-June, according to Viet Nam Coffee Corporation (Vinacafe) deputy director Nguyen Cong Hoang. Distributors were therefore only able to buy up about 7-8 per cent of the 200,000 tonnes directed by the Government.

People's Committee vice chairman Le Viet Phu of Central Highland Lam Dong Province said that many of the involved distributors already carried huge debt loads, preventing them from qualifying for the new loans.

Due to the slow implementation of the stockpiling programme, farmers were unable to wait and sold their produce at low prices to service their own debts and cover costs for the next crop.

When coffee prices then surged from VND20,700 per kilo in April to a recent price of VND30,700 on the back of gains on the world market, farmers had no supplies on hand to sell.

Viet Nam Coffee and Cacao Association (Vicofa) chairman Luong Van Tu said that export coffee was currently priced at US$1,600 per tonne and farmers could have earned $200 per tonne more than before.

"If the stockpile had been made earlier, it would have been more helpful," Tu said.

Hoang agreed, estimating that distributors' profits could have been as much as VND200 billion ($10.5 million) if they had met the target of the stockpiling programme in time.

The Government's plan to stockpile a million tonnes of rice has hit similar snags. It has directed the Viet Nam Food Association to buy rice from July 15 to November 11. But slow implementation has resulted in little impact on domestic rice prices, which have been increasing steadily. Meanwhile, farmers are unable to wait for a higher price and continue to sell out at low prices. Salt makers are also suffering losses due to the recent decline in salt prices.

Salt makers in southern Bac Lieu Province, for instance, were currently selling at a very low price, VND250-500 per kilo. Le Kim Hung, director of the Department for Industry and Trade of central Ninh Thuan Province, the nation's leading salt-producing province, said that his department had asked the provincial salt company to buy up salt as soon as possible to insure salt makers against further price declines and ensure them a reasonable profit.

However, only about 1,000 tonnes of salt has been bought to date out of 10,000 tonnes targeted under the stockpiling programme. Temporary stockpiles to prevent market fluctuations would be more effective if carried out in time, said the director of the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development of Lam Dong Province, Pham Van An, who recommended that trade associations and administrative agencies propose measures to ensure stockpiling takes place in a timely manner.

"The Government should establish a national co-ordinating committee on this issue to flexibly respond when there are changes in the domestic prices of agricultural commodities," suggested Hoang. — VNS

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