"Don't worry about losing agricultural land"

More than 2 years ago, Ms. Pham Thi Hanh in hamlet 2 (Quang Be commune, Chuong My district) decided to sign a land lease authorization contract with Quang Be Agricultural Cooperative. This is the area of land that the family has not cultivated rice for many years due to focusing on trading and doing business.

“When signing a contract with the cooperative to let another unit produce, we are completely assured because we do not worry about the loss of land. In addition, on average, the family is paid 55 kg of rice per acre per acre of leased land. Thanks to that, the demand for daily food is still ensured…” - Ms. Hanh said.

Similarly, Mr. Pham Viet Te's household in hamlet 1 (Quang Be commune) also allocated more than 1 acre of agricultural land to Quang Be Agricultural Cooperative. These areas were then leased by the cooperative to Balance Life Agricultural Development and Investment Joint Stock Company for organic rice cultivation.

In addition to the annual rice production, Mr. Te is also hired to work on the same agricultural land that has been authorized for the cooperative to lease to the enterprise. In the main crop care and harvest season, Mr. Te is paid an average of 300,000 VND per day.

According to Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of Quang Be Agricultural Cooperative Nguyen Viet Hung, the unit is currently signing lease authorization contracts with more than 100 households, mainly in hamlet 1 and village 2. These areas then the cooperative leased it to Balance Life Agricultural Development and Investment Joint Stock Company to cultivate rice, with a defined term of 5 years.

The intermediary role of the government

According to Chairman of Quang Be Commune People's Committee Vu Van Manh, in the commune in general, there used to be some agricultural land that was left unused in many production seasons. This is a huge waste of means of production.

Faced with that situation, the Commune Party Committee issued a thematic resolution, with the determination "not to let an inch of land be abandoned". Accordingly, the locality gathers information, propagates and mobilizes people to cultivate, or allocates land to organizations and individuals to use for agricultural cultivation.

“The local government assigns Quang Be Agricultural Cooperative to be the focal point for gathering people's uncultivated land. Associate with businesses in need to make the most of the non-productive land fund. In general, people are very supportive of this policy because of the mindset that their agricultural land will not be lost..”  Chairman of Quang Bei Commune People's Committee Vu Van Manh

Technical Director of Balance Life Agriculture Development and Investment Joint Stock Company Le Thanh Thuy said that from 2022 to now, the unit has signed a contract to receive 52 hectares of agricultural land from Quang Be Agricultural Cooperative. Signing with local agencies helps businesses more easily access production land, as well as avoid legal problems.

On the basis of the people's production materials, Balance Life Agriculture Investment and Development Joint Stock Company has invested many billions of dong to develop a large sample field and cultivate high-yield and high-quality rice. Out of the 52ha currently under cultivation, the enterprise has developed an organic rice field of about 36ha.

“Rice is produced by the company according to safety standards and organic orientation, so the consumption of the products made is quite convenient. Currently, we are researching and developing the preliminary processing, packaging and branding promotion for organic rice…” - Ms. Le Thanh Thuy added.

Along with paying according to the land rental unit price under the contract, Balance Life Agricultural Development and Investment Joint Stock Company also supports job creation for a part of farmers who own agricultural land for rent. In addition, people will also be able to buy products from the company, first of all, organic rice, at a price equal to the cost of production, instead of the commercial price sold to the market.

New directions need to be replicated

According to Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Ta Van Tuong, currently the draft Land Law is still in the process of studying and amending; however, the general orientation is to be more suitable with agricultural production practices. Farmers cannot always produce alone, but must follow a chain of links, with the leading role of enterprises and cooperatives.

“If the production is small, it will be difficult for farmers to survive in the market mechanism. Therefore, the accumulation and concentration of land for production in the direction of specialized cultivation, large-scale cultivation, application of techniques and technologies, towards improving productivity and product quality is an indispensable requirement..." - Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development   Ta Van Tuong.

According to Kinhtedothi - Editor Trong Tung