INTRODUCTION
1- The necessity of this research
The Northern mountainous midlands is the most majestic mountainous region of Vietnam where most of the ethnic minority people reside (35/54 ethnicities) and where exists the longest border land with the People’s Republic of China (over 1500 km) and The People’s Republic and Socialist of Laos (560 km). Therefore, The Northern mountainous midlands plays a key role in the socio-ecomic development, the environment protection and the country’s defence as well.
Acknowledging the important location of the Northern moutainous midland provinces in the cause of building and protecting the homeland, in the recent years, especially since Đoi moi (Innovation), the Communist Party and the Government of Vietnam have always paid special attention to the comprehensive development of this area. Hence, the economy of the whole area has rapidly improved in many aspects like food, housing, transportation, study, electricity, water supply and media...; basically, the security in the area is stable.
However, as a mountainous area with poor infrastructure, scattering population and low educational level, the main and important production is agriculture despite the fact that industry, commerce and service have been developed. Agriculture, particularly cultivation, livestock and forestry, is the key for job and income; and ensure the lives of the majority of people in the area. Currently, agriculture in the Northern mountainous midland provinces is facing serious
challenges in its development, which are:
-Firstly, limited land for agriculture, only 1,571,100 ha, accounting for 14.94% of the total land for nationwide agriculture, but it is located in different levels of terrains; and the quality of the land is poor. It is noticeable that the total land area for agriculture has been narrowing down due to the changes in the purposes of land use (for indutrial development, such as hydropower, mining, commerce, services, tourism and urban development) and land erosion because of flood.
-Secondly, Northern moutainous midland provinces has the largest forestry area in the whole country (5,662,700 ha, accounting for 34.79% of the total land for forestry nationwide). Forests in the Northern mountainous midland provinces protect the land and water resources and regulate the climate not only for the area but also for the whole Northern delta. However, the forestry area has been quickly decreased over the past years; in Son La province, forest only covers over 10%.
-Thirdly, the Northern mountainous midland provinces is the region with rich water sources (many rivers, streams, ponds and lakes) but due to improper use of water, water resources in the region are increasingly exhausted and polluted, causing difficulties in agricultural production.
-Fourthly, due to objective and subjective reasons such as mass development, short- term benefits, limited understanding in agricultural production, farmers have used chemical fertilizers, pesticides for crops, preventive medicines for cattle and poultry, the chemicals in protection and storage of agricultural products that contaminates and destroys the land and water sources, which has been leaving greatly effects on agricultural production of the region in the future.
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- Fifthly, with the poor and backward infrastructure of the whole socio-economic region
in general, the infrastructure for the region's agricultural production in particular, it's very worrying that agricultural production methods extremely is outdated, mainly on household and extensive cultivation.
- Then, agricultural activities in the region mainly rely on human labour, but there is a limited number of qualified employees in all aspects, especially the level of knowledge of agricultural science and technology is limited; income and living standard are better than before but still among of the lowest in the country.
-Finally, border with China of over 1,500km, a market with over 1.3 billion people, is a significant advantage in the consumption of agricultural products. However, China is a complex market, their pressure on the agricultural development of the region is quite huge, especially in a complicated relation.
The difficulties and challenges mentioned aboves how that if maintaining the agricultural development methods in the Northern mountainous midlands as present, it will certainly bring serious consequences to the region in particular and to the whole country in general in many ways.
Accordingly, the researcher selected the topic of "Agricultural Development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces towards Sustainability" to conduct the PhD thesis in development economy.
2- Research objectives Overall objective: Systematizing the theoretical issues of sustainable development in general and sustainable development of agriculture in particular, the thesis analyzes, assesses the current agricultural development status of the Northern mountainous midland provinces in a sustainable way in the past years and proposes recommendations to promote the rapid development of sustainable agriculture from now until 2020.
Specific objectives: -To present the theory of agricultural development towards sustainability. -To analyze and assess the current status of agricultural development in the Northern
mountainous midland provinces in a sustainable way in the past years.
-To propose direction and recommendations to promote the rapid development of
sustainable agriculture from now until 2020.
3- Research target and scope The research target of this thesis is sustainable agriculture development, in which, agriculture is defined as cultivation, forestry and fishery. However, due to the fact that the Northern mountainous midlands has limited water surface, the position of fishery in agriculture is low, this research thesis mainly focused on cultivation, livestock and forestry.
Sustainable development includes three aspects: economic, social and environmental. However, due tothe limitations of the materials, the social and environmental aspects are addressed at acertain level in this thesis, not strictly following the theory.
Location: the researchwas conducted in 14 provinces of the region (with comparison to
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other regions in the country).
Time: study and assess agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces in the period 2000 to 2012 and propose solutions to improve the sustainability of agriculture in the future period of 2013to 2020.
4- Research approaches and methodologies *Research approach: To successfully fulfill the set objectives, the researcher has applied the following
approaches:
-Firstly, from theory to practice: the thesis followed the concepts, definitions, evaluation criterria that have been concluded and recognized by the international community for the review and assessment of the current situation of agricultural development industry towards sustainability in the Northern mountainous midland provinces of Vietnam, and for identifying successes and limitations as well as the root causes of this situation. From that, the thesis recommended scientific and feasible solutions for the sustainable development of regional agriculture in the coming period.
-Secondly,from macro to micro: from the directions and policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Government of Vietnam in developing a sustainable agriculture in order to analyze and assess the implementation of these directions and policies of the local authorities, production establishment sand people.
-Thirdly,from theory to practice, from micro to macro: from the situation of local agricultural development towards sustainability in The Northern mountainous midlands, the research concluded a number of issues to complement the theory for development of a sustainable agriculture in general, and amendment and improvement of directions and policies of the Party and Government on this issue.
- Fourthly,inter-sector and inter-region approach: research on the development of sustainable agriculture in The Northern mountainous midlands must be done in the context of close relationship with other industries and other sectors in the province, as well as with other regions in the country.
- Next, systematic approach: recognized the problem through a systematic and hierarchy structure, which is a comprehensive and dynamic approach. This approach helps to analyze the dialectical relationship between the elements of sustainable development including economic, social and environmental.
- Lastly, institutional approach is the approach that enables the analysis of the implementation of government policies and regulations, from that identifying the solutions that suitable with specific characteristic so The Northern mountainous midlands, creating driving force for the development.
*Research methodologies:
The key research methodologies in this research are: -Data collection:
+ Data collection through reports and documents: Data was collected through statistic yearbooks, reports from Northern midland provinces and related studies in the area.
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+ Field research: For a solid basis for the analysis and evaluation of the state of sustainable in Northern mountainous midland, which may suggest some recommendations
for the development process in the future, the researcher has conducted fieldwork in some areasthat have better agricultural development than other areas in the region. + Consulting experts:This is a way of data collection through consultation with experts, scientists, managers who are knowledgeable about the research topic.
- Data synthesis and cleaning: The thesis have summarized theories and researches related to sustainable development and sustainable agricultural development in general, and agricultural development in a sustainable way for The Northern mountainous midlands of Vietnam in particular. Synthesis method was also be used in the collection and processing of documentation related to the content of the research thesis.
Data synthesis was conducted in following stages: + Searched and synthesized the research of international scientists and organizations about sustainable development of a specific country, region, or a specific industry and economic.
+ Collected researches of scientists, managers, research institutes, universities in Vietnam about sustainable socio-economic development of the country in general or sustainable development for the region, an industry or a certain sector in particular, that have been published.
+ Collected the doctoral and master thesis studied issues related to development of sustainable agriculture in the local Northern mountainous midlands (developed plants crop and livestock, and methods of agricultural production, training to farmers,etc.)
+ Gathered statistics on agricultural development to the country in general and of each province in the Northern mountainous midlands in particular. In addition, the researcher also visited some districts in the region to collect data on agricultural development.
- Data analysis:
-Dialectic methodology: This method is used throughout the thesis, especially when analyzing the interaction between socio-economics and environment in sustainable agriculture development, as well asthe impact of investing resources in that development process.
-Synthesis methodology: The thesis summarized theories and researches related to sustainable development in general and agricultural sustainable development in particular, to solve problems in agricultural development towards sustainability in the Northern mountainous midlands of Vietnam. Synthesis method was also used in data collection and processing.
-Historical comparision methodology: The stability-based process of agriculral development of the Northern mountainous midland provinces is not only analysed, collated and compared through each developing stages of this area but also compared with other areas over the country.
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5- Contributions of this research -This research paper systematizes and clarifies the concepts related to sustainable agricultural development, especially the concept, definition and evaluation criteria; develops a theorical framework for studies on sustainable agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces.
-This research paper applies the theorical framework that developed to analyze the situation of sustainable agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces from 2000 to now.
-This research paper provides a system of ideas, orientation and solutions to expedite
the process of sustainable agricultural development of the region.
6-Structure of the research Apart from Introduction, Conclusion, Reference and Annexes, this research paper
consists of 4 chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature review of related national and international researches Chapter 2: Theories and practices of the sustainable agricultural development Chapter 3: Situation of the sustainable agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces in the period of 2000-2012
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Chapter 4: Recommendations for improvement of the sustainability of agricultural development in the Northern moutainous midlands region until 2020.
CHAPTER 1
LITERATURE REVIEW
The thesis mentioned 6 overseas and 21 domestic researches. From these researches, a number
of issues are clearly shown, as below:
- Firstly, it is affirmable that researches overseas and domestic have given a clear picture of
sustainable development, from definition to content and indicators of evaluation that countries all
over the world basically agree with. Certainly, depending on the certain context of each country, in
each development stage, there is an emphasis on one point or the other.
- Secondly, agricultural development towards sustainability has already been mentioned
in a number of researches, however, merely in the range of one or a couple of agricultural
products and within a province or a district.
- Thirdly, particularly with the Northern mountainous midland region, there have been
researches directly or indirectly addressing sustainability-oriented agricultural production
development, yet the scopes of these researches are limited at a particular product, in a particular
locality. There has not been any research project on sustainable agricultural development in the
entire region.
Provinces located in the Northern mountainous midland region share similarity in their
natural, economic and social conditions and have close relation with the Red River Delta,
specifically the weather, climate and water sources. This region is also important in terms of
national defense. Therefore, it is needed to develop sustainable agriculture in the whole region so
as to ensure the ecological balance of the region and the Red River Delta. This is a gap that has
not been tackled by previous researches. This thesis will try to fill this gap.
There are a large number of researches related to sustainable agricultural development.
It must be said that conducted researches in Vietnam and elsewhere have been analysed
comprehensively and thoroughly about sustainable development in general and sustainable
agricultural development in particular. Nevertheless, these researches either discussed on
sustainable development generally or sustainable agricultural development specifically at the
macro level or at a certain sector or locality; there is yet a research on agricultural
development towards sustainability in the Northern mountainous midland provinces, in both
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theoretical and practical aspects.
CHAPTER 2
THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF SUSTAINABLE
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
2.1- Perception of sustainable development
The content of sustainable development is defined to comprise three pillars1: (i) Economic sustainability: Ensuring stable, long-term and efficient economic growth; (ii) Social sustainability: Ensuring social equality and human development; (iii) Environmental sustainability: Exploiting and utilizing natural resources properly, preserving and continously improving the quality of living environment, ensuring that people enjoy their lives in a clean, healthy and safe environment, which harmonizes the relations between the people, the society and the nature.
Economy
Figure 2.1: Three pillars of sustainable development Economic target
SD
Society
Environment
Sustainable development
Social target
Environmental target
Three pillars of sustainable development mentioned above are targets to achieve in the
development process, as well as features of the development process in the modern context.
2.2-Sustainable agricultural development 2.2.1.Agriculture and features of agricultural production
Agriculture, in a narrow sense includes cultivation, husbandry and agricultural services (services in agricultural production), while in a broaden sense it also covers forestry and fishery. In this thesis, the researcher will study agriculture in its broaden sense.
Agricultural production differs from other production, the differences are: a- If in other economic industries land is only a condition and a basis for production, business and services, in agricultural production it is the key material for production, a special irreplaceable material.
1Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Son, Dr. Bui Duc Tuan, Economic Development Textbook, National Economics University, 2012.
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b- In other industries, production time almost coincides with labour time, this is not the case in agricultural production. In agricultural production, especially cultivation, production time and labour time are quite different. The reason is beside the time being influenced by human, plants and animals are also effected by other natural factors including physical,
chemical and biological elements. Under these two types of intervention, plants and animals survive, grow and provide valuable products. Thus, labour time in agriculture are regularly in turns with production time, this makes labour in agriculture always seasonal.
As a result, addressing the seasonal labour in agriculture is a critical requirement of
sustainable agricultural development in all countries around the world.
c- Objects of production in other industries are lifeless and inanimate things, while objects of production in agriculture are living plants and animals, having their own rules of growth and development. Therefore, understanding these rules and making proper intervention will help them grow well and produce quality products that ensure sustainability, otherwise human beings will have to face with unexpected consequences.
2.2.2- Sustainable agricultural development and indicators for evaluation
Generally, sustainable agricultural development is similar to sustainable economic development in ensuring three pillars: economic sustainability, social sustainability and environment sustainability. In 1992, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defined sustainable agricultural development as: “the management and conservation of the natural resource base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development (in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors) conserves land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable”. Nevertheless, due to the characteristics of agricultural production as mentioned above, sustainability in each aspect has its unique features.
Economic sustainability: In agriculture, economic sustainability is understood as the steady increase of
productivity and yield of crops and livestock in each certain stage.
To evaluate economic sustainability in agricultural development, many indicators can
be used, however, following are the most important in our opinion:
- Productivity of crops (unit: cwt/ha) - Productivity of livestock (unit: kg/animal or liter/animal/year as for milk) - Production value of the entire agriculture sector (in broaden sense) and of each sub-
sector (agriculture, forestry, fishery).
- Growth rate of overall agricultural production, of each individual sub-sector, or of
each specific product (this indicator is calculated in %)
- Production value on each hecta of agriculture land, unit: million VND/ha (given the features of agricultural production, land used for production is divided into 3 types)
- Production value generated by 1 labour (unit: million VND/1 person). This indicator can also be used for each sub-sector or each product depending on purpose of calculation.
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- Proportion of sub-sectors of agricultural production (agriculture, forestry and fisheries) and proportion of smaller divisions within each sub-sector (in narrow sense of agriculture,
they are cultivation, husbandry and supportive agricultural services). This indicator is calculated in percentage that each sub-sector or division accounts for. - Yield of grain products per capita. Unit: kg / person / year. Social sustainability: There are many social requirements in regard to sustainable agricultural development, but the most important one is to raise incomes of the population quickly and ensure fairness in the enjoyment of the fruits that development brought about. There are several indicators to determine social sustainability of agricultural development, in our perspective, the following are the most important:
- The average income per household member/ month (unit: 1000 VND/ person/ month). - The poverty rate (in %). - Ratio of literacy of adults. Environmental sustainability: Here are key indicators often used to reflect the environmental sustainability of
production development:
- The area of degraded land. - The area of improperly irrigated land. - The forest area and forest coverage rate - The number of incidents and areas of forest fire and destroyed forest
2.3- Factors influencing sustainable development of agricultural production
There are objective and subjective factors that influence the sustainable development of
agricultural production, in summary, there are 3 groups as below:
- First, factors of natural condition: have great impacts to sustainable development of
agricultural production
- Second, factors of economic condition: many factors fall in this group, namely infrastructure and facilities for agricultural production, policy system, development of market system, etc.
- Third, factors of social condition: have quite a lot of impacts to agricultural development towards sustainability, noticably education level and population distribution.
2.4- Best practice on sustainable agricultural development in other countries and territories 2.4.1- Best practice of the Netherlands 2.4.2. Best practice of South Korea 2.4.3- Best practice of Thailand 2.4.4- Best practice of China 2.4.5- Lessons learnt for Vietnam in general, for Northern mountainous midland provinces in particular in terms of sustainable agricultural development
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- First of all, in order to develop agriculture in a sustainable way, the decisive
factor is having strong supports from the State, particularly to difficult areas, ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, remoted and distanced areas. The State’s supports must be given in various aspects, in a suitable timeframe and ideally through national programmes. The State must provide a policy system that actually encourages the mobilization of all economic sectors to actively invest in developing agricultural production in a sustainable way.
- Second, in order to develop the agriculture in a sustainable way, it is needed to follow seriously and efficiently the motto: "coordination of the State and the People”. The State plays a very important role, however, the State does not do the work on behalf of farmers. The State merely creates a favourable conditions for the farmers to promote their ability in agricultural development, as well as makes an initial push to create a momentum for the farmers to continue their path (certainly, the State shall always supervise and support farmers should they meet difficulties or obstacles). Specifically, the State issues incentive policies for agricultural development, especially land policy, credit policy, science and technology policy, pricing policy, taxation policy, etc., as well as provides partial supports for physical resources (seeds, animal feed and supplies, machinery, equipment, finance, etc.) to farmers to facilitate the production and business activities.
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-Third, experiences from other countries have shown that in order to develop agriculture in a sustainable way, the State and the people must focus on addressing comprehensively various economic, technical and management issues. Above all, it is required to rapidly set up modern facilities; to timely apply advanced science and technology in production and trading; and to quickly train and build capacity of qualified human resource meeting the demand for development.
CHAPTER 3
CURRENT SITUATION OF SUSTAINABLEAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINOUS MIDLAND PROVINCES IN THE PERIOD OF 2000 TO 2012
3.1- Natural, social economic features of the Northern mountains midland provinces related to sustainable agricultural development 3.1.1- Natural features
Table 3.1: Generalizing the basic situation of the Northern mountains midland provinces in 2012
No
Province Natural land (1.000 ha) Forestry land (1.000 ha) Population in 2012 (1.000 person)
1 Ha Giang 2 Cao Bang 3 Bac Kan Tuyen Quang 4 5 Lao Cai 6 Yen Bai Thai Nguyen 7 8 Lang Son 9 Bac Giang 10 Phu Tho 11 Đien Bien 12 Lai Chau 13 Son La 14 Hoa Binh 15 Total
Agricultural land (1.000 ha) 152.6 94.4 36.5 82.5 83.4 107.8 108.7 106.3 129.6 98.5 154.4 89.7 261.5 65.2 1,571.1 14.94 548.2 534.0 378.7 446.9 333.6 474.1 180.2 559.9 140.1 178.6 602.1 418.7 624.6 688.3 5,708.0 37.13 763.5 515.2 320.5 712.1 646.8 764.4 1,150.2 740.8 1,588.5 1,340.8 519.3 403.2 1,134.3 806.1 11,405.7 12.84 791.5 670.8 485.9 586.7 638.4 688.6 353.5 832.1 384.9 353.3 956.3 906.9 1,417.4 460.8 9,527.1 28.78 % compare with national
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Source: GSO, 2012 The table above shows that the Northern mountains midland provinces areas account for 28.78% of the country's, but the populationaccounted for only 12.84%. Agricultural land accounts for 14.94% of the of the country's agricultureland area, forestry land areas account for 37.13%. This is shown that the forestry sector plays a very important role for the development of the region. Among the 14 provinces of the Northern mountainous midland area, Phu Tho has the smallest natural area with 353,300 ha, and Son La has the largest with 1,417.5 million ha. The province with a smallest population is Bac Kan with 320,500 people and with a largest population is Bac Giang with 1,588.5 million people.
3.1.2- Economic features
Due to the complex terrain and deeply divided, the Northern mountainous midland
provinces have the poor economic conditions, including notably:
- Infrastructure development to serve the economic, social and environmental development
of the area was invested by the Communist Party and the Government but still backward.
- Despite the region's economy has shifted and developed rapidly in recent years, it has shifted and developed by backward knowledge in limited scale. (this is generally in the region also has a number of local qualified relatively well developed as Lao Cai, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Bac Giang). 3.1.3- Social features
The Northern mountainous midland provinces is largely inhabited by ethnic minorities in our country (more than 30 different ethnic groups), including notably the ethnic Thai, Tay, Nung, Muong, H .Mong, Knives, Khomu, Resistance, Giay ... Unless the Kinh people, the other ethnic groups, the most populous nation and only about 1 million people, and the most a few tens of thousands of people, even some ethnic people populationis just under 1 thousand.
- History and development of The Northern mountainous midland provinces tied to the
history and development of the people of Vietnam.
- Natural conditions are complex and fragmented, poor infrastructure, underdeveloped economic, ethnic minorities much and lower intellectual level and has brought no less a disadvantage in terms of social opportunity for the region, especially the problem of poverty, the existence of old traditions, social evils, and taking advantage of this weakness to instigate people against the authorities, against the regime of social socialist enemy.
3.2- Current stituation of the development of agricultural production of the
Northern mountainous midland provinces from 2000 to 2012 3.2.1- Agricultural production growth and stable continuous
From 2000 to 2012, all the three sectors: agriculture, forestry and fisheries of the region
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had a relatively well developed.
Figure 3.2 : The value of Agricultural-Foresty and Aquatic Production in the Northern mountainous midland provinces 2000 to 2010
Source: GSO, 2005, 2010
3.2.2-Crop industry grows steadily over the years: Appendix: Productivity and yield of local maize of the Northern mountainous midland provinces from 2000 to 2012 Unit: 100kg/ha, 1,000 tons
2000
2003
2005
2007
2008
2010
2012
Provinces 1-Ha Giang -Productivity -Yield 2-Cao Bang -Productivity -Yield 3-Bac Kan -Productivity -Yield 4-Tuyen Quang -Productivity -Yield 5-Lao Cai -Productivity -Yield 6-Yen Bai -Productivity -Yield 7-Thai Nguyen -Productivity -Yield 8-Lang Son -Productivity
17.2 71.7 24.1 75.8 21.4 21.2 33.0 38.6 17.0 38.3 19.7 19.5 28.8 30.8 35.3
19.5 88.0 26.0 86.2 26.5 35.0 37.6 53.0 23.3 57.3 22.9 26.3 32.6 43.7 41.1
21.0 92.6 27.3 96.1 27.3 39.8 40.7 59.9 24.2 64.6 23.5 33.4 34.7 55.1 43.4
20.9 90.7 29.3 109.1 34.5 55.6 41.4 73.2 28.5 75.8 25.3 39.9 42.0 74.8 46.6
24.1 111.7 29.3 112.7 35.0 58.4 41.2 66.7 28.0 80.7 26.0 45.3 41.1 84.6 45.8
28.0 133.4 29.6 113.8 36.7 58.3 42.3 70.2 32.4 100.8 28.5 64.3 42.1 75.4 47.9
31.8 167.2 32.5 127.7 37.2 61.4 43.1 60.4 34.0 114.6 30.6 75.5 42.2 75.5 47.8
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44.8
96.8 36.5 44.9 43.7 90.4 23.1 67.3 25.5 48.5 31.5 418.5 40.3 144.5 33.2 40.9
25.8 29.4 26.2 42.5 - - - - 26.3 135.8 22.7 48.8 23.9 27.5 640.4
89.0 79.8 61.7 35.0 33.3 28.2 49.7 44.3 29.0 38.1 36.8 34.5 82.2 74.8 66.5 20.7 19.3 - 56.5 49.1 - 21.1 18.1 - 37.5 28.9 - 37.7 28.2 31.1 444.0 228.0 200.9 36.4 28.7 26.6 123.7 96.9 74.3 32.9 29.2 28.2 39.3 36.0 34.4 883.0 1,043.3 1,401.7
94.9 32.7 51.0 38.7 89.5 22.2 64.3 22.1 40.2 38.1 503.5 39.3 141.1 33.6 40.1 1,544.6
104.3 39.1 33.6 45.5 79.1 24.5 71.6 26.9 57.3 39.2 524.2 39.7 143.8 36.3 43.0 1,527.1 1,696.2
31.9
28.2
27.5
32,6
33.8
33.1
35.3
-Yield 9-Bac Giang -Productivity -Yield 10-Phu Tho -Productivity -Yield 11-Đien Bien -Productivity -Yield 12-Lai Chau -Productivity -Yield 13-Son La -Productivity -Yield 14-Hoa Binh -Productivity -Yield 15-Region yield 16-Nation yield 17-Region productivity 18-% compare with nation
Source: GSO 2005, 2010, 2012
Table 3.3:Value horticultural products per 1 ha of arable land of the Northern mountainous midland provinces
Province
No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Ha Giang Cao Bang Bac Kan Tuyen Quang Lao Cai Yen Bai Thai Nguyen Lang Son Bac Giang Phu Tho Đien Bien Lai Chau Son La Hoa Binh Regional Average National Average
2008 17.72 18.64 14.88 37.26 24.23 27.98 35.48 22.31 39.48 43.90 15.31 8.60 15.76 39.99 25.17 43.89
2010 22.00 24.15 32.62 50.21 31.71 33.79 44.43 39.90 46.75 51.64 23.66 10.14 19.47 55.47 32.78 54.56
2009 22.17 22.19 23.38 39.67 30.08 32.22 40.10 26.28 41.05 48.34 18.28 9.54 18.32 46.11 28.62 45.52
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Unit: Million VND 2011 27.12 25.41 39.18 58.61 37.01 38.35 52.86 40.82 57.29 61.23 28.02 12.69 30.86 65.68 39.91 72.24 Source: GSO, 2012. The table above shows that, there is still a small gap between the value horticultural
products per 1 ha of arable land in the Northern mountainous midland provinces in comparison withthe national average, but it had regular and not small progress from 2008 to 2011.
3.2.3-The livestock sector of the local area has gradually developed towards
commodity production
Appendix 3:Current Development status of the livestock sector in the Northern
mountainous midland provinces period 2000 to 2012
2000
2003
2005
2007
2008
Unit: 1.000 animals 2012
2010
Provinces 1-Ha Giang -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 2-Cao Bang -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 3-Bac Kan -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 4-Tuyen Quang -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 5-Lao Cai -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 6-Yen Bai -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 7-Thai Nguyen -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 8-Lang Son -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 9-Bac Giang -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs
132.2 54.6 248.0 1,223.0 108.7 104.3 245.0 1,549.0 87.0 32.5 157.2 1,227.0 137.4 19.3 266.1 2,432.0 100.3 17.6 229.1 1,376.0 83.3 30.1 283.0 2,411.0 135.9 23.4 348.1 2,621.0 188.8 42.5 277.5 2,962.0 125.3 68.0 718.3
133.0 65.6 290.6 2,055.0 108.8 114.5 284.1 1,845.0 81.7 35.3 154.0 1,208.0 129.5 32.5 315.0 3,982.0 124.4 19.2 342.9 2,100.0 93.2 26.5 321.2 2,674.0 114.7 32.4 465.9 4,818.0 188.2 48.4 333.6 3,641.0 94.2 82.4 843.0
138.1 72.7 329.1 2,139.0 112.5 124.4 308.8 1,968.0 83.0 38.6 157.7 1,205.0 133.1 43.0 343.0 4,374.0 106.7 19.5 334.4 1,981.0 101.1 28.1 354.4 2,507.0 111.1 43.3 519.3 4,669.0 188.5 52.7 350.6 3,703.0 92.0 99.8 928.4
147.0 84.3 352.9 2,595.0 117.4 129.5 310.8 2,089.0 87.9 44.9 155.0 1,012.0 143.2 55.3 418.1 3,032.0 127.0 23.9 353.4 2,506.0 111.7 38.8 376.0 2,784.0 108.6 57.0 509.0 5,071.0 182.2 57.1 332.8 3,055.0 91.2 148.4 1,002.3
146.4 90.1 373.0 2,742.0 107.1 123.1 322.3 2,113.0 77.7 36.2 164.1 1,200.0 145.1 56.2 441.1 3,611.0 125.5 23.3 382.1 2,623.0 110.0 36.5 397.8 2,881.0 106.9 55.0 529.2 5,295.0 160.9 50.4 372.7 3,284.0 87.3 149.4 1,050.6
158.3 101.7 431.7 3,041.0 109.3 129.8 339.8 2,145.0 73.9 27.1 193.2 1,182.0 146.6 46.7 519.6 5,118.0 134.9 23.4 459.3 2,881.0 112.4 34.3 422.6 3,097.0 93.5 42.9 577.5 6,823.0 155.3 44.3 369.0 3,758.0 83.7 151.0 1,162.4
158.7 103.8 449.5 3,166.0 100.8 121.1 356.0 1,975.0 53.0 20.2 178.9 1,142.0 104.9 18.4 419.9 3,519.0 123.7 16.3 413.3 2,390.0 97.4 19.0 423.3 3,363.0 70.6 34.8 514.8 7,564.0 122.7 31.9 328.4 3,330.0 68.8 132.8 1,173.1
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2012
2010
2008
2007
2005
2003
89.2 142.8 593.0
2000 7,077.0 88.5 100.5 448.3 6,559.0 - - - - - - - - 119.2 87.6 340.4 2,016.0 128.3 48.0 294.7 2,323.0
Provinces -Poultry 10-Phu Tho -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 11-Đien Bien -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 12-Lai Chau -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 13-Son La -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry 14-Hoa Binh -Buffalows -Cows -Pigs -Poultry
9,075.0 10,979.0 12,067.0 15,425.0 14,962.0 735.0 91.9 658.0 9,499.0 1,162.0 42.0 288.6 2,302.0 89.3 14.9 181.4 915.0 168.5 196.5 535.3 4,604.0 105.5 61.0 426.4 3,876.0
9,662.0 94.3 105.2 530.4 7,757.0 - - - - - - - - 133.1 106.4 441.0 3,306.0 122.2 56.5 370.6 3,543.0
97.1 129.3 568.0 7,887.0 99.6 27.7 210.6 917.0 84.7 12.4 155.8 526.0 155.2 119.9 476.0 3,402.0 122.6 64.3 410.3 3,483.0
95.2 163.4 552.3 8,068.0 105.2 32.2 232.3 1,417.0 92.4 12.4 160.6 853.0 162.1 159.9 405.1 4,848.0 126.1 81.7 398.0 3,383.0
88.5 122.1 665.7 8,495.0 11,127.0 115.4 107.9 39.1 34.7 276.8 245.3 2,020.0 1,634.0 98.8 89.0 15.1 13.6 209.6 179.4 1,011.0 900.0 170.2 158.5 191.3 169.8 523.8 460.8 4,890.0 5,014.0 113.4 112.8 72.9 77.8 451.2 416.0 3,588.0 3,882.0 Source: GSO 2005, 2010, 2012 The table above shows that, cattle, pigs and poultry in the Northern mountainous midland
provinces, from 2000 to 2012, were well developed. 3.2.4-The forestry industry in the provinces has growing concerns Figure 3.3: Forestry production value of the Northern mountainous midland provinces from 2000-2012 (price 1994 - 2012 price 2010)
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Souce: GSO 2005, 2010, 2012 The table above shows that forestry production value throughout the Northern mountainous midlands has grown relatively steadily over the years. 2012 compared with 2000, the value of the forest produced additional 443.2 billion, an average annual increase
was 44.32 billion. Two of the provinces are increasing relatively: Lang Son Province, adding 94.1 billion, an average annual increase 9.41 billion; Yen Bai province increased by 93.1 billion, an average annual increase of 9.31 billion. Unfortunately there are 2 provincial forestry production value decreased significantly: Son La decreased 93.7 billion, an average annual reduction of 9.37 billion; Cao Bang province decreased by 27.6 billion, an average annual decrease of 2.76 billion.
3.2.5-Fisheries have also been growingly concerned in the Northern mountainous midland provinces
Table 3.4: The value of fisheries production in the Northern mountainous midland provinces period 2000-2010 (1994 prices) *
Unit: billion VND
Provinces
No 1 Ha Giang 2 Cao Bang 3 Bac Kan Tuyen Quang 4 5 Lao Cai 6 Yen Bai Thai Nguyen 7 8 Lang Son 9 Bac Giang 10 Phu Tho 11 Đien Bien 12 Lai Chau 13 Son La 14 Hoa Binh 15 Region
2000 7.0 2.0 2.3 11.5 4.2 9.7 24.4 3.5 49.0 67.1 - - 17.7 10.4 213.0
2003 8.1 2.3 3.1 13.2 7.6 22.2 28.4 8.0 57.1 88.7 - - 24.5 18.7 287.2
2005 8.7 2.5 3.6 16.2 9.3 29.0 29.6 9.0 66.3 99.7 6.2 5.9 26.4 22.7 334.8
2007 10.0 2.9 5.4 21.6 13.4 34.8 32.8 9.2 88.7 131.7 7.7 7.9 39.3 27.9 433.3
2008 10.7 2.9 5.9 25.7 14.8 37.8 33.9 9.8 111.4 126.3 9.6 8.8 37.1 28.8 463.5
2009 11.2 2.8 6.4 27.4 22.4 41.4 38.9 13.7 145.8 139.7 9.9 9.0 39.5 32.9 541.0
2010 11.4 2.8 6.8 29.0 25.3 45.2 44.9 9.2 168.5 152.9 10.1 8.8 49.9 33.4 598.2
The table above shows that, in 2010 compared to 2000, the production value of the fishery sector throughout the region increased from 213 billion to 598.2 billion, an increase of 2.8 times. Some provinces have very high growth rates: Yen Bai Province from 9.7 billion in 2000 increased up to 45.2 billion in 2010, an increase of 4.6 times; Bac Giang province increased from 49 billion VND up to 168.5 billion VND, 3.4 times. 3.2.6. The organizational forms of agricultural production has been paid attention to reinforce and construct. 3.3–Assessment of the sustainability of agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces
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Based on some basic criteria outlined in Chapter 1, readers can review and see the situation of the development of the sustainable agriculture in the Northern mountainous midland provinces in Vietnam over time as follows:
3.3.1-Sustainable economy
Agricultural production has had better growth and increased steadily over the years, especially productivity, crop production, livestock farming has basically met the increasing demands for food of the ethnic minority groups living in the area. Based on the criteria: production value, growth, crop yields, livestock, food production per capita, manufacturing value obtained on 1ha. The thesis show that The Northern mountainous midland provinces last time was initially developed in a sustainable way. However, such development is not sustainable, in particular:
- First, the capacity of the plant is low.
Figure 3.6: Rice and maize yields in the period of 2000-2012
Source: GSO 2005, 2010, 2012
The diagram above shows the period from 2000 to 2012 rice yield as well as yield corn of The Northern mountainous midland provinces has a relatively large distance compared to the average productivity of the country.
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- Second, the production values obtained on 1 ha and 1 labor day are low; value horticultural products obtained per hectare of arable land from 25.17 million in 2008 increased to 39.91 million in 2011, however, this figure far apart compared to the average of all water (72.24 million East by 55.2%), especially very low compared to the Red river Delta (94.25-by 42.3% million) and the Mekong river delta (91,1million by 43.8%).
Figure 3.8: The structure of agricultural productionThe Northern mountainous midland provinces 2000-2010
1.690
1.960
2.090
2.250
2.410
2.740
2.880
100%
13.78
13.64
13.56
13.63
15.23
16.45
18.97
90%
80%
70%
60%
Thuỷ sản
50%
Lâm nghiệp
83.97
83.95
83.7
83.49
82.68
81.59
79.34
40%
Nông nghiệp
30%
20%
10%
0%
2000
2003
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
unit: %
Source: GSO, 2005, 2010.
3.3.2-Sustainability in society
Agriculture of The Northern mountainous midland provinces relatively developed, have created favorable conditions, in which the most important is the financial condition of the Party committees, governments and people here are addressed and development of social problems. On the basis of the following criteria: per-capita income one month, the poverty rate, the development of infrastructure. According to the author, socially initial agricultural of The Northern mountainous midland provinces sustainable development. However, this field is still difficult, in particular:
- Income per capita in May 2012 of the Northern mountainous midland provinces reached 1,285,000 contracts, while North and Central coast is 1.469 million contract, Highlands 1.631 million, and Mekong Delta is 1.785 million contract, the Red river Delta and the Southeast 2.304 million contract was 3.241 million contract.
- The poverty rate of the northern mountainous province 2012 was 24.2%, while 18.6% Highlands, North Central and South Central Coast is 16.7%, the Mekong Delta is 10.6%, the Red River Delta is 6.1%, and the South East is 1.4%.
- Low income, low educational level, difficult communication conditions inevitably
lead to cultural life, spirit and people benefiting low. 3.3.3 – Sustainable in enviroment
Initial environmental issues has also been the lead agency of the local people's attention and preserve, protect, especially the natural environment. The percentage of forest cover in the area has increased from 33% in 1993 to 48.8% in 2010, however this area much longer existed as well.
- Wastes from agricultural production and human-made environments the soil, the more
water pollution.
- The phenomenon of landslides, soil run off, flash floods happening more and more,
increasing damage.
- The phenomenon of forest fires is still increasing and a high proportion of the whole
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country.
Table 3.12: The forest area burnt in the Northern mountainous midland provinces in the period 2000-2012
Unit: ha
2000
2003
2005
2007
2009
2010
2012
Province
6.0 47.0 10.2 2.1 92.6 3.4 2.7 268.2 5.8 2.0 47.3
113.7 190.3 14.5 97.1 110.0 274.1 5.0 544.0 34.2 332.0 313.6
20.5 0.1 507.9 1,045.9 48.6
71.0 715.0 2,814.0 5,510.6 51.1
66.5 64.9 3.4 32.1 28.7 190.1 3.5 85.8 17.2 8.9 876.9 156.4 238.0 208.0 1,980.4 6,829.3 29.0
97.8 75.8 4.9 82.6 43.0 709.2 21.0 251.8 59.0 13.9 151.8 360.2 1,188.0 - 3,059.0 5.136,4 59.6
381.0 95.7 16.0 5.0 27.0 201.4 15.0 144.8 23.9 - 34.6 71.7 103.0 5.2 1,124.3 1.658,0 67.8
60.9 40.3 68.6 2.2 99.5 22.9 18.0 51.4 23.3 - 85.4 - 72.1 25.3 569.9 1.324,9 43.0
660.1 433.0 43.0 9.3 794.0 917.9 26.1 164.0 28.1 45.6 32.4 330.4 548.3 53.2 4,085.4 6.723,3 60.8
No 1 Ha Giang 2 Cao Bang 3 Bac Kan Tuyen Quang 4 5 Lao Cai 6 Yen Bai Thai Nguyen 7 8 Lang Son 9 Bac Giang 10 Phu Tho 11 Đien Bien 12 Lai Chau 13 Son La 14 Hoa Binh 15 Region 16 Nation 17 % compare with nation
Source: GSO 2005, 2010, 2012
The table above shows that except for 2005, burnt forest area of the Northern mountainous province accounts for 29% of the country's forest fires, while the other five were approximately 50% or more. In particular, in 2009 this percentage up to 67.81% and 60.71% in 2010 to. In 2012, forest fires in the region decreased, but the whole country has a high level of 43%. 3.4. Evaluation of factors affecting the development of sustainable agriculture in the Northern mountainous midland provinces
-The influence of natural conditions Is the height above sea level, the large and fragmented terrain is complex, so the locality northern mountainous province region made up of many small land areas, climate pretty special weather conditions this has created favorable, but also brings difficulties for the sustainable development of agriculture.
road system, communication system
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-The influence of social economic + First, the government has mobilized more capital to invest and build modern infrastructure system of socio-economic in the Northern mountainous province, especially the load and power supply, postal-system telecommunication, school systems, hospitals ...; as well as construction and development of infrastructure systems, technology for production agriculture, especially irrigation-system
standards, system production plant varieties and livestock, fertilizer production system, production forage production, plant protection systems and animal health, preservation systems and processing agricultural products.
+ Second, the government has launched many programs, mechanisms and policies to support the economic development of the society and the nation in general mountainous, agricultural development sustainable agriculture industrial, rural highlands north in particular.
However, the policy of the Party and State are still some limitations: - Planning of agricultural production is not good. - The program supports the mountainous ethnic overlap, spreading investment, great
loss.
About farming practices are outdated, still producing extensive way, based on natural
and hereditary experience is key.
Market inputs and outputs of agricultural production midland provinces in the north have formed quite strong and active. However, the market's been pretty badly governed China.
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- The influence of social conditions Due to the complex topography, deeply divided, and the area has many ethnic minorities live most of the country, so people living here quite dispersed and educational level of the general population is relatively low. This situation has brought back to the difficulties in building infrastructure and technical service of agricultural development, as well as for making rapid advances in science and technology applications in agricultural production. This difficulty is not small hindrance to the development of sustainable agriculture in the region over time.
CHAPTER 4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHERN MOUNTAINOUS MIDLAND PROVINCES UNTIL 2020
4.1- Anticipation of the world and Vietnam’s context with impact to the sustainable development of agricultural production in the Northern mountainous midland provinces of Vietnam until 2020 4.1.1- The international context
In the coming time the world economy will witnessrather complicated developments and newly emergedissues in the trend of sustainable development, integration, cooperation and competition. The increasingly close connection and interdependence between countries, on one hand create many opportunities for cooperation and development, but on the other handalso create new difficulties and challenges, making negative fluctuations and economic crisis easy to spread and deepen their impact.
All these factors will have alternative and multi-dimension influence on sustainable agricultural development in The Northern mountainous midland provinces from now until 2020. 4.1.2- The context of Vietnam
After 25 years of implementing the renovation, establishment and development of the socialist-oriented market economy, the country’s society and economy has had remarkable growth. Compared to 25 years ago, the country’s status and power have changed completely, in terms of:
- Economy, from a poor country where GDP per capita per year was below USD 200; in 2012 this number increased to USD 1,540, so the country has becomes one of the world’s leading agricultural products export countries: taking the first rank in exporting pepper, the second rank in exporting rice, and the third rank in exporting rubber, coffee, cashew nuts and so on. With the country’s potential, we are enabled to invest in many areas of economic, social
and environment development, including agriculture, rural areas and farmers.
- Regarding human resources, in 2005 the rate of trained labours accounted for 12.5% of the total number of labours in the society; in 2010, the ratio has increased to 14.6%, in which more than 2 million labours obtained university and graduate degrees.
- Regarding international cooperation, Vietnam had diplomatic relations and economic ties with over 150 countries and territories in all continents. The total foreign direct investment reached around 195 billion US dollars.
Apart from the above-mentioned advantages, we also face numerous difficulties, namely natural disasters, complicated diseases, critical and spreading pollution, climate change, especially sea level rise, which have become visible threats to the life and production of people. The country’s economy will also have to cope with the increasingly fierceful competition in the world and domestic markets, the interaction and dependence to the world’s economy, as well as the higher risks from the integration and globalisation process.
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Another major difficulty is our economy is not really sustainable, quality, productive and efficient, its competitiveness remains weak. Despite the rapid economic growth, the growth model is outdated and the economic structure is unsuitable.
4.1.3- Regional context
As production blooms, the income and living stardard of ethnic minority people are lifted significantly. Their living conditions, housing, transportation, communication, learning and healthcare are also better. People have more confidence in the leadership of the Party and the State.
However, the Northern midlands and mountainous region has many difficulties in the development. In which the most significant are: unsynchronised and outdated infrastructure, low educational level; limited financial resources of the province and local people; scattered terrain, infavourable weather; the constant and cunning sabotage of hostile forces, especially from China, etc.
These advantages and disadvantages will have negative impact during the course of agricultural development towards sustainability in The Northern mountainous midland provinces in the years to come. 4.2- Key viewpoints in sustainable agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces until 2020
From the reality of development in agriculture towards sustainability in the Northern mountainous midland provinces recently, as well as from the anticipation of the world and domestic contexts influencing sustainable agricultural development of the region in the coming time, we believe that in order to succeed, provinces in this region must understand thoroughly the following key viewpoints: - First, sustainable agricultural development in the Northern midlands and mountainous
region until 2020 must be conducted comprehensively in all aspects. - Second, sustainable agricultural development in the Northern midlands and
mountainous region until 2020 must be based on maximising the region’s advantages. 4.3- Main directions for sustainable agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces until 2020
Overall direction is a strong development of agriculture, forestry and fishery towards commodity, intensive production and sustainability, based on rational and efficient exploitation of advantages in each locality in the region. By 2020, it is expected that efforts be made to achieve the average of 85% to 90% of the country’s targets. 4.3.1- Cultivation
- Expand and invest intensive cultivation in areas of industrial crops, famous fruit trees of the region: tea planting areas in Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho; lychee planting areas in Luc Ngan, Bac Giang; plum planting areas in Bac Ha, Lao Cai; orange planting areas in Bac Quang, Ha Giang; grapefruit planting areas in Doan Hung, Phu Tho; rubber areas in Lai Chau, etc.
- Expand areas for vegetables and flowers. Create large-scale and specialised areas cultivating vegetables and flowers in each locality, particularly locations with favourable conditions of soil and weather like Sapa in Lao Cai, Moc Chau in Son La, suburb areas of Lang Son city, etc. In addition to vegetables and flowers, the Northern mountainous midland provinces also enjoys great advantage in cultivating and exploiting medicinal herbs and plants.
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4.3.2- Animal husbandry - Take advantage of pastures and grazing land to promote cattle husbandry in the region.
Gradually shift from raising cattle for traction to gaining meat.
Continue to encourage local people develop pig husbandry, particularly in industrial and semi industrial methods.
Take advantage of large grazing land and abundant food resources, encourage local people to continue the development of poultry husbandry, especially high quality poultry breeds. In terms of methods, industrial and semi industrial methods should be applied in the forms of farms or enterprises. 4.3.3- Forestry
The general direction is to accept forestry as a key production industry of the Northern mountainous midland provinces, to enable people to earn their living and build on their wealth from forestry activities. To that end, beside the strict management and protection of special use forests and protective forests, it is needed to allocate forest land to local people for their management and use. Efforts should be made to increase the production value of forestry of the whole region from 13.63% of the total agro-forestry-fishery production value in 2010 to over 20% in 2020. 4.3.4-Fishery
Concentrate on maximise the utilisation of the water surface in aquaculture, especially water surface of large hydro power reservoirs such as Son La, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Thac Ba. etc. It is needed to invest in expanding cold water fish farming, e.g. sturgeon, salmon, etc. Efforts should be made to increase the production value of fishery of the whole region from 2.88% of the total value of agro-forestry-fishery production value in 2010 to around 5% in 2020.
4.4- Key solutions for sustainable agricultural development in the Northern mountainous midland provinces until 2020
infrastructure and investment, resources facilities
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To succeed in realising the Northern midlands mountainous provinces’ proposed sustainable agricultural development direction towards 2020, it is necessary to carry out a system of synchronized solutions, which have scientific basis and high feasibility. Following are the main solutions: 4.4.1- Focus efforts on the planning of agricultural development in the whole region as well as in each locality in the region: planning has an important role in social and economic development in general and agricultural development towards sustainability in particular. Planning has to be one step ahead, based on scientific basis and is highly feasible. 4.4.2- Build on specialised production zones at advantaged provinces or inter-provinces: focus investment on facilities and actively apply advanced techniques and technology, improve production efficiency in order to promote advantages of the region. 4.4.3- Set up facilities serving the production development of the whole region as well as each province in the region: appropriate policies and mechanisms are needed to mobilise all available towards improve for the course of sustainable agricultural modernisation and synchronization, serving development. 4.4.4- Select models of organising agricultural production suitable with conditions and
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features of The Northern mountainous midland region: model of organising production has a crucial role in agricultural production; a suitable model will be a huge motivation boosting production; farmer household and farm is the main model of the region until 2020. 4.4.5- Select method of cultivation suitable with conditions of the Northern mountainous midland region as a whole and of each province in the region: there are many methods ensuring intensive cultivation in provinces of the Northern midlands and mountainous region, such as: field–pond–barn or garden–pond–barn or forest–pond–barn with the common method of agriculture- forestry- fishery combination. 4.4.6- Apply advances of science and technology in agricultural production in localities of the region: it is necessary to select and apply new advances of science and technology in line with the conditions of each locality; priotise investment on biotechnology, water resource, cultivation, mechanisation and electrification. 4.4.7- Adequate investment in training human resources for agricultural production in the region: this is not an easy task and needs adequate financial investment, the engagement of the whole political system. It must be conducted continuously and intensively in a certain time with concrete method and content. 4.4.8- Invest in supportive services of agricultural development: aiming at stimulating specialization in agricultural production and development of modern agricultura. In the Northern midlands and mountainous region, priority is needed in such services as irrigation, provision of animal breeds and plants varieties, equipment, fertilizers, plant protection products, veterinary services and plant protection. 4.4.9-Expanding consumption market of agricultural commodities provided by local people: this is an urgent requirement associated with the manufacturing process, with focus on strengthening and promoting the market system for agricultural products; cautious consideration is needed before penetrating the Chinese market. 4.4.10- Effectively address the issue of social welfare for farmers: people’s lives are still difficult in this region, the Government and local authorities should have policies to harmonise the use of incomes from the hydropower, minerals and forest exploitation and pay more attention to rapid and sustainable poverty reduction; policies to basically solve issues of jobs and income for people with meritorious services to the revolution. 4.4.11- Adjust a number of policies targeted at ethnic minority and mountainous area in general, at agricultural production in particular: such as investment policy, land and forest allocation and protection policies; investment in hydropower development policy; taxation on mineral resources exploitation and regulatory mechanism for the region; policy of border trade with China; policy of training human resources specifically applied for the region.
CONCLUSION
The Northern mountainous midland is an extremely important areas of Vietnam, both in socio-economic, environmental and national security aspects. The area processes rich natural resources including millions of hectares of forestry, water resources, vast land and many kinds of minerals.
The Northern mountainous Midlands is one of the economic region that rely agriculture. Although having certain advantages for agricultural developmentwith various ecological areas, creating favourable conditions for developing different types of agricultural, forestry and water specialties. However, because of the low starting point, over the past years, it has been difficult for commodity economic developmet; local government management and promotion was limited at provincial level. Therefore, the potentials and advantages of the region has not been taken full use of. This Northern midlands region is still facing difficulties and challenges in the trend of international economic integration and globalization.
For the rapid sustainable agricultural production development in the Northern mountainous midland region in the coming years, the research studied in depth and complete the following issues:
The research systematizied the basic theoretical issues of agriculture economic development in general, agricultural development towards sustainability in particular. The research especially clearly clarified the development of sustainable agriculture (economic- social-environmental) and the evaluation criteria for that sustainability. The research also explored and presented the experience of some countries in the world in the development of sustainable agriculture and to draw useful lessons for Vietnam in general, for the Northern mountainous midland region in particular.
The research thesis applied the summarized theoretical framework and practices to analyze and assess the situation of agricultural development towards sustainability in the Northern mountainous midland of Vietnaminthe period 2000 to 2012 in all three aspects: economic, social and environmental sustainability. Through analysis and assessment, the thesis highlights the initial encouraging results of local authorities in the development of agricultural production in a sustainable way, as well as indicating the limitations and weaknesses that need to be solved and the factors that influence (both positively and negatively) to develop sustainable agriculture in the region during this period. From current situation in developing sustainable agriculture in the Northern midland, and on the basis of forecasting the domestic and international context that may affect the development of regional agriculture towards sustainability by 2020, thesis raises perspectives and direction on sustainable agricultural development in this region till 2020 as well as solutions to successfully implement that direction.
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Hopefully this research thesis will be a useful document for Northern mountainous midland provices to refer to in designing development of sustainable agriculture in the coming years.
