Vietnam’s rapid urbanization and industrialization are threatening food security, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat was cited by the state media as warning on March 24.
“The increasing allocation of farmlands for other purposes is a major threat to food security with many plots of fertile lands being turned into urban areas and industrial parks,” Mr. Phat said.
“More than 500,000 hectares of farmlands have been converted between 2001 and 2007,” Mr. Phat said and quoted the statistics from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's surveys in 16 provinces have shown that 89 per cent of the transferred land areas was former paddy areas, the minister added.
With such a quick tempo of urbanization and industrialization the amount of arable land is expected to continue to drop remarkably, which will result in a reduction of more than one million tons of rice a year, Phat told the local Saigon Liberation newspaper daily.
Up to 15 per cent of farmers whose land was taken for other purposes have become jobless and another 25 per cent only have part-time jobs, and the total number of people affected by the process of land transfer reaches 50,000, Phat quoted the statistics from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs as saying.
“Urbanization and industrialization are essential for the country’s socioeconomic development but should not be at the expense of the agricultural sector, the strength of the country’s economy, Phat said.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently issued an agenda with the focus on maintaining food security as a key task, Phat added.
The two mentioned ministries are examining the country’s remaining farmlands to better control the transfer of fertile land for other uses and new IPs can be built on exhausted and hilly lands. (VNS)
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