Gap Status in Vietnam
Agriculture in Vietnam has made several important achievements during the course of the country's economic "renovation," the most outstanding of which is the high growth rate of its food production. This resulted in the creation of opportunities for diversifying agricultural production. However, these changes also generated some problems in agriculture and rural development, the most significant of which is the low competitiveness of agricultural goods, especially vegetables and fruits. The government as well as other non-governmental organizations like the VACVINA are actively seeking solutions to these problems. They believe that the promotion and use of good agricultural practices (GAP) is the way to go, and that international cooperation with member countries of FFTC will jumpstart this initiative.
Abstract
Key words: good agricultural practices, Vietnam
Introduction
The "renovation" of Vietnam's agriculture and rural economy brought about several achievements in various fields such as improved production, transformed economic structures and improved farmers' incomes. However, agricultural production still has a lot of shortcomings and limitations. One of the important solutions identified to address the problems is the use of good agricultural practices (GAPs) to improve the quality of agricultural products.
Achievements and Shortcomings
The most outstanding achievement in the renovation period, especially in the first five years of the 21st century was comprehensive development of agriculture, as manifested by the following: food production achieved a high growth rate; food for the market was achieved fast; rice monoculture was abolished as crop cultivation was diversified; and animal husbandry development was rapid and comprehensive.
Achievements
Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, Table 4, Table 5, and Table 6 show the performance of some of Vietnam's agricultural commodities.
These agricultural achievements were considered a breakthrough for the transition from self-subsidy to good production.
Shortcomings
The biggest shortcoming of agricultural production is limited competitiveness of agricultural goods in domestic and the world market, as manifested by the low quality of goods; high cost of production; few categories of commodities; limited safety of foodstuff; and inappropriate model or consumer standards. For example, the market share of long, fragrant and delicious exported rice is still poor. Vegetables and fruits could not compete in the domestic and world markets because their quality and safety are still low.
Moreover, farmers still have low knowledge and skills to satisfy the requirements of production. Another problem is the poor infrastructure in rural areas.
Improving the Competitiveness of Agricultural Goods
The Vietnamese government has issued the following ministerial and state documents that provide for improving the competitiveness of agricultural goods:
- Decision No. 225/1999/QD-TTG (December 1999) on agricultural crops, domestic animal and forestry trees for 2000-2005
- Decision No. 43/1999/QD-TTG (10 March 1999) on tea production plan for 1999-2000 and 2005-2010
- Decision No. 182/1999/QD-TT (3 September 1999) on the development of vegetables, fruit crops, flowers and decorative plants for 1999-2010
- Vietnam Standards TCVN (2003)
- Decision No. 86/2001/QD-BNN-KHCN (23 August 2001) on the standards of agricultural goods
- Instruction No. 386/HD-KNKL (29 March 2003) on the quality standards of agricultural crops and fertilizers
- Law on plant protection and plant quarantine (2001)
- Development of the procedures for cultivation technology and integrated pest management of main agricultural crops (rice, tea, coffee, peanut, pineapple)
A number of efforts have been done to introduce GAPs in fruit crop production as shown in Table 7.
Problems and Proposals for Gap Implementation
Problems
Among the problems related to implementing GAPs in Vietnam are the following: farmers lack of understanding of what GAPs are; their farm sizes are small and scattered; and the fact that national sanitary and phytosanitary standards and instructions for integrated pest management and integrated crop management for vegetables and fruit crops are lacking.
Proposal
To overcome the said problems, member-countries of the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center of the Asian and Pacific Region (FFTC) should have a closer international cooperation in promoting GAP technologies. This cooperation will help Vietnam to acquire information and experiences on GAPs; organize training of trainers' courses on GAP for technicians, extension workers and farmer-stakeholders; and establish GAP demonstration farms for fruit and vegetable production in the VAC system.
References
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2005. Good agricultural practices (GAP). p. 1.
- EUOPAM. 1998. Guideline for good agricultural practice (GAP) of medicinal and aromatic plants, EUOPAM, August 1998. pp 1-7.
- EUREPGAP. 2004. Control points and compliance criteria fruit and vegetable, January 2004.
- MARD. 2002. Statistic information of agriculture and rural development, 1996-2000. MARD. Hanoi: Agriculture Publishing House. pp. 7-79, 91-309.
- _____. 2005. Report on activities done in 2004 and 2005 work plan. MARD. Hanoi. pp. 1-3.
- SOFRI. 2005. Results of studies on science and technology of vegetables, fruit trees and flower in 2003-2004. SOFRI. Hanoi: Agriculture Publishing House. pp 519-531.
- Tran Kha Thi, Tran Ngoc Hung. 2004. Cultivation pact ice of clean vegetables (safe vegetables) Hanoi: Agriculture Publishing House. pp. 8-16.
Index of Images
Table 1 Agricultural Profile
Table 2 Rice Production in 2000
Table 3 Vegetable Production in 2000
Table 4 Production of Some Main Fruit Trees in 2000
Table 5 Export Figures of Some Main Products in 2000
Table 6 Agricultural Production in 2004
Table 7 Efforts in Introducing and Testing Gaps in Vietnam
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