In the morning of 29th June 2016, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development preliminarily summarized activities of the first 6 months and deployed missions of the last 6 months in 2016. Attending the meeting, there were the leaders of ministry and related departments of the Ministry. Mr.Cao Duc Phat, member of the Central Party - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development chaired the conference.
In the first 6 months, the contribution of agriculture, forestry and fisheries decreased by 0.18%. Production value of agriculture, forestry and fisheries was estimated at 397,400 billion VND, fell by 0.1% compared with the same period in 2015. During this period, agriculture, forestry and fisheries has faced to many difficulties and challenges such as salinity intrusion, coastal erosion (in the Mekong Delta region), prolonged drought on a large scale (in the Central Coast and Central Highland regions), mass fish deaths in four central provinces, and a reduction in consumption
Rice crops suffered big losses due to these natural disasters. The country only reaped about 19.4 million tonnes of rice from the winter-spring crop, marking a reduction of 1.3 million tonnes (6.4 per cent) compared with last year’s harvest. In the Mekong Delta region, the winter-spring crop’s production fell 10.2 per cent from 2015. Both acreage and production of short-term plants reduced. Long-term industrial crops (coffee, rubber and cashew trees) were mainly grown with the use of intensive cultivation technology on previously reclaimed acreage.
However, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong – Head of the Deparment of Planning, the agricultural sector has achieved some successes; the business environment improved, and the nation’s competitive capacity, market research and trade promotion were enhanced. The ministry’s agencies have boosted bilateral co-operation to expand export markets.
Exports grew in the first six months, estimated reach US$15.04 billion, increase of 5.4 per cent year-on-year.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development- Mr.Cao Duc Phat said that this result is the big effort of sector before two big challenges are international economic integration and climate change. For the coming months’ goal, the Minister asked agricultural departments to carry out comprehensive measures aimed at enhancing competitive capacity and sustainable development, as well as effectively implement the National Target Program on new rural development.