Linkage has become an inevitable trend in modern agricultural development for all countries in the world. The problem is that it is necessary to synchronize solutions to remove obstacles, take advantage of opportunities, promote and expand linkages to make Vietnamese agriculture become an important link in the global agricultural value chain.
Limitations still exist
One of the reasons leading to limitations in agricultural development linkages at present is the ineffective operation of cooperatives.
According to Le Van Thang, the Director of sub-department of Rural Development under the Hung Yen Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, , new-style agricultural cooperatives at present are mainly newly established ones, so financial and human resources are limited, leading to small-scale production that has not created close and effective links between farmers and businesses.
Accordingly, the number of farmer households and farm owners participating in the linkage is not high, with contracts mainly under seasons and breeding cycles, but these are not long-term and sustainable. The farmers’ spirit of willingness to cooperate and link production in the direction of goods with large scale, meeting the VietGAP, GlobalGAP standards, in the cooperative is still weak. Therefore, agricultural cooperatives have not been able to promote their leading role in linking production and consumption of products.
Meanwhile, Director of Hai Duong provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Van Thang said: “Currently, the cooperative’s role as a bridge in implementing project is still confused. At the same time, the policy to support various types of association in general and cooperatives in particular is still inadequate. In addition, many chain links between farmers and businesses have not yet brought about sustainable results because there are still cases of contract breaking in the commodity sectors from both sides.”
According to Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this is also the reason why one of the biggest links in the rice industry is the large-field model that is gradually shrinking, after a period of implementation with high expectations. Thus far, there has not been a strong enough sanction to handle the contract dispute between enterprises and farmers.
Necessary solutions
Discussing solutions to promote linkages in agricultural development, Director of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) Nguyen Quoc Toan said that: In order to successfully perform the linkage, professionalism is needed from all sides in the chain. Specifically, farmers are the subjects of the production process; Cooperatives and enterprises are the subject of purchasing, processing and consuming agricultural products.
Agricultural production is the first link of the linkage process, so the professionalism of farmers plays an important role in forming the chain. Farmers’ perception is critical to the success of the linkage chain, because when farmers are aware of the importance of linkage they will voluntarily join cooperatives, industry associations, to increase the value of the product.
For cooperatives, it is necessary to improve operational efficiency, properly perform the role of the glue between cooperative members, and then act as a bridge between farmers and businesses.
At the same time, businesses need to professionally perform the role of leading the chain and the market, investing in high processing technology to create deep-processed products, enhancing added value for products, increasing revenue for enterprises and making an important contribution to increasing income for farmers through the purchase of raw materials.
When the interests between the sides are guaranteed, creating a closed circle, the linkage will be very strong.
According to Dr. Le Thanh Luu, Director of the Centre for International Cooperation for Sustainable Aquaculture and Fisheries (Vietnam Fisheries Society), in order for the linkage to be truly sustainable, it is necessary to have the participation of the bank as both a source of capital and a place of financial binding for all parties involved in the linkage.
At the same time, the sides involved in the linkage also have tight binding mechanisms, for example: farmers participate in buying shares of processing enterprises; and enterprises also invest in production with farmers, thus sharing profits and risks and sticking together more closely.
It can be seen that promoting and expanding linkages is a solid foundation for agricultural development in new conditions. Therefore, paying special attention and finding effective solutions to this problem is an important contribution to realising the aspiration of getting rich from agriculture, and at the same time opening a big door for Vietnam’s agriculture to integrate deeply and widely into the global economy.
Source: Nhan Dan Online
