Since 2015, when implementing the project “Restructuring the agricultural sector towards increasing the added value and sustainable development” up to now, the agricultural sector structure of Dien Bien province has gradually shifted in the right direction, thus, the value of key products increased.

The One Commune One Product (OCOP) program is promoted. Some product productions have been scaled up, gradually affirming their value, quality and brand in the market. In addition, commodity-oriented agricultural production areas associated with the strengths and advantages of each locality and market demand are formed and developed.

The Dien Bien agriculture sector believes that it will overcome all obstacles to maintain a stable growth rate. (Photo: Dien Bien Phu Newspaper)

Resilience created for new rural areas

The project to restructure the agricultural sector is implemented by Dien Bien province with the goal of bringing fragmented and small agricultural production into modernity and development towards concentrated goods, creating sustainable raw material supply.

The outcomes of the Project are shown more clearly when the province's agricultural products are increasingly asserting their quality, meeting the diverse needs of consumers inside and outside the province. In particular, many agricultural products have become “brands” of locality whenever Dien Bien is mentioned.

Dien Bien province restructures the agricultural sector with more than 10 product groups in the fields of cultivation, livestock, forestry, and fisheries; In particular, the field of cultivation brings about the most obvious results.

From 2017 up to now, in the whole province nearly 3,000 hectares of ineffective rice and annual crop land have been converted to fields of other crops with higher economic efficiency, such as fruit trees, macadamia trees, and medicinal herbal plants, and timber production forests... Along with that, the local people also actively promote the implementation of chain links in growing and consuming products between cooperatives, businesses and people.

Promoting the agricultural sector restructure, Dien Bien province directs all levels and sectors to actively coordinate in providing information on planning, land use, and investment survey locations, creating favorable conditions for businesses, investors in the agricultural sector.

By the end of 2023, there have been four investment projects in the field of agriculture and rural areas with investment policies approved, bringing the total number of enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas to 30 units, focusing on investing in livestock ranching, forestry, and intensive planting of macadamia.

After nine years of restructuring, Dien Bien's agricultural economy has gradually shifted towards commodity production, the rural appearance has been innovated, and farmers' lives have been gradually improved. Many of the province's agricultural products are currently distributed in supermarket chains and retail stores inside and outside the province.

By the end of 2023, Dien Bien province has 77 products certified as OCOP products with three stars and/or higher; 48 communes meet and basically meet new rural standards, accounting for more than 41% of the total number of communes in the province. Up to now, the materialized and spiritual life of the people has been improved, the average income per capita in rural areas has reached 26 million VND/person/year; the poverty rate in rural areas decreased to nearly 37%, the face of Dien Bien rural area is increasingly changing with appearance of prosperity.

Dien Bien agricultural products are increasingly gaining the trust of consumers about brand and quality. This will be an important “key” to help the province gradually create resilience for new rural areas, contributing to developing the agricultural and rural economy in the direction of promoting internal resources and increasing value; promoting the transformation of economic structure, improving people's income and living standards.

Role of "economic backbone" maintained

In 2024, the province's Agriculture sector predicts that there will be more difficulties due to the increasingly obvious effects of climate change, with unusual and extreme weather events, causing a lot of damage; diseases on plants and animals become increasingly complex and pose unpredictable risks, strongly exerting negative impacts on productions in agriculture, forestry, and fishery.

However, the province's agriculture sector still strives to achieve the agricultural growth target of 4% or higher in 2024. In particular, it is to promote the comprehensive development of agricultural and forestry production on the basis of restructuring the agricultural sector associated with building new rural areas in the direction of developing centralized, linked commodity production and high-end technology application.

To promote the agricultural production in 2024 and the following years, the Agriculture sector will simultaneously implement solutions, closely follow the situation for appropriate instructions and management, and flexibly respond to weather and unusual market situations, epidemics; continue to focus on restructuring crops and livestock. It is to roll out the policies to support agricultural and rural development, support the progress of high-tech agriculture.

Cha Nua forest bee honey – a three-star OCOP product of Dien Bien province. (Photo: Dien Bien Phu Newspaper)

At the same time, the provincial sector governance will proactively advise and support the districts in economic region development such as: Tuan Giao district is advised to focus on developing macadamia plantation; Muong Ang district develops coffee and fruit trees; developing high quality rice along the value chain, focusing on the Muong Thanh intensive rice fields in Dien Bien district.

In addition, the Dien Bien Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will strengthen the links and cooperation in production, linking production and processing with the market, facilitating the entrepreneurs to develop businesses, agricultural cooperatives, and other forms of agricultural cooperation and link the production and consumption of agricultural products in the value chains, with businesses as the core. The sector plans to develop the provincial agriculture to adapt to climate change, promoting the conversion of crop structure in case of inefficient use of rice cultivation land, creating new value per unit of cultivated area. According to the requirements of each market, the issuance of planting area codes and traceability of agricultural, forestry and fishery products will be performed.

The production is directed towards safety, traceability, creations of added value and sustainable development, build raw material areas for the processing industry, exploit the value of indigenous resources, form and diversify the OCOP products. The agricultural and rural infrastructure and commercial infrastructure in rural areas are made more modern, to meet the requirements of modern agricultural production with large-scale commodity production.

The Dien Bien Agriculture Sector believes that it will overcome all obstacles to maintain a stable growth rate, strive to truly stand out in many fields, and keep its role as a “backbone” of the province's economy.