Agricultural sector focuses on recovering growth

Between now and the year’s end, the sector will focus on overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and restoring production, while grasping market information and proposing solutions to maintain domestic and foreign markets, he said.

He urged the Department of Crop Production to coordinate with local authorities to help farmers re-plant perennial trees, replacing those destroyed by drought and diseases. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Plant Protection must control diseases and recommend measures to ensure safe vegetables, tea and pepper in order to restore customers’ confidence in Vietnamese agricultural products, he stated. 

Minister Phat asked the animal husbandry should promote production in a sustainable manner while closely supervising the use of pesticides and antibiotics to prevent the abuse of chemicals in breeding.

According to the ministry’s report, due to the impacts of El Nino and climate change, prolonged drought has damaged nearly 250,000 ha of rice, 18,960 ha of other crops, 30,500 ha of fruit trees, and 149,700 ha of industrial trees. As many as 1,355 cattle and poultry died and thousands others faced water shortages.

By the middle of May, total losses caused by natural disasters amounted to over VND6.7 trillion (US$433 million).