Forum on farm economy in southern Vietnam

Binh Phuong (VNA) - Farm owners suggested the Government create favourable conditions, including soft loans and mechanisms to protect local products from foreign unfair competition.

They also wished the government to come up with policies in near future to
encourage the development of the farm economy, concerning the limitation of
land area that one may own, and incentives for farmers to gather scattered
land for expansion.

At a forum titled "For development of farm economy in southern
Vietnam " held in southern Binh Phuoc province on Oct. 17, participants
touched upon several weaknesses of the sector, including small scale, lack
of market information and cooperation between farm owners.

Most of farm owners consider themselves as peasants, instead of
businessmen, leading to the unplanned and slow development of the farm
economy, said Ho Xuan Hung, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development.

Up to 90 percent of farm produce are sold as raw materials at very low
prices as a result of the low rate of technology application.
In late 2007, Vietnam had 116,062 farms nationwide, mostly in
the Mekong Delta and the Southeast Region, plus another 8,600 added each
year.-Enditem