Phu Tho province's Doan Hung district focuses on growing grapefruit. (Photo: baophutho.vn)

Phu Tho - The northern midland province of Phu Tho has undertaken measures to effectively and sustainably utilise its 297,000 hectares of agricultural land to facilitate the development of the agricultural sector.

The province has built the land use planning for the 2021 - 2030 period and annual land use plans of localities, with priority given to the zoning of land funds to serve the development of high-quality rice for national food security and to meet the requirements for socio-economic development in the province.

Phu Tho has also clearly defined key products to be developed further for each region, widely applied scientific and technological advances, and effectively implemented programmes, plans and policies in support of agricultural production.

In addition to key crops such as rice, tea, grapefruit and forestry trees that bring high economic value, localities have also exploited regional specific varieties to serve economic development, and piloted new varieties suitable for local soil.

The province has also paid a lot of attention to protecting and increasing soil fertility, thus contributing to the growth of the agricultural sector, as well as the province's socio-economic development.

In the 2021 – 2023 period, the growth rate of the local agriculture, forestry and fishery sector was stable, at 3.28 per cent.

Phu Tho now has 139 recognised OCOP (one commune one product) products, an increase of 396 per cent compared to the figure in 2020 and reaching 61 per cent of the target set for 2025. The value of OCOP products in 2022 hit 355.8 billion VND (14.6 million USD). The OCOP programme has created stable jobs for over 4,000 labourers with an income of 4-7 million VND per person per month.