Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that, despite the pandemic, the risk of disruption in agricultural production and the supply chain of agriculture, forestry and fishery is very high. Without the timely implementation of support solutions, it is expected that in the second half of the year, the supply of agricultural products and food for domestic consumption and export will decrease sharply.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien

After relatively positive export results in the first seven months of the year, what do you think about difficulties in production and supply of agricultural and aquatic products in the future?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified some major difficulties in the production and supply of agricultural and aquatic products from now until the end of the year.

That is, the Covid-19 pandemic led to many material areas being blocked due to the implementation of social distancing, greatly affecting production and harvesting, and the capacity at seafood processing factories decreased to 50%. Besides, the circulation and distribution of goods are still difficult.

In addition, input materials and raw materials for production will be limited in supply and prices will still be high. People and businesses lack capital to reinvest in production, leading to a lack of high quality products for consumption and export.

In the current context, will this year's export target be affected and how does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development prepare operating scenarios?

In the past seven months, the industry has achieved many positive results.

However, in the current complicated situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in major provinces and cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the agricultural industry faces many difficulties, especially in consuming agricultural products, supporting people and businesses to maintain production and export.

Without timely implementation of support solutions, it is expected that in the last six months of 2021, the supply of agricultural products and food for domestic consumption and export will decrease sharply.

In order to ensure the growth target of the industry in 2021 in general and the target of exports in particular, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has determined that, in terms of agricultural, forestry and fishery production, the Ministry will closely coordinate with localities to adjust agricultural, forestry and fishery production plans in accordance with weather conditions and developments of the Covid-19 pandemic in each province and city; support people and businesses with necessary conditions to maintain and develop agricultural, forestry and fishery production.

In many localities, the production of agriculture, forestry and fishery is good with high output, but due to the implementation of social distancing, even curfews after 6pm, many material areas are blocked, greatly affecting production and harvests.

Besides, on the development of agro-forestry-fishery processing industry, the Ministry will support and create conditions for businesses and factories to maintain production; strengthen processing capacity, link to form concentrated production areas from raw materials - processing - markets; improve processing capacity, confirm product origin, export official agricultural products to markets, especially China.

In addition, in terms of promoting market development, removing barriers, and facilitating domestic consumption and export, the Ministry will focus on coordinating with ministries, branches, localities and industry associations to solve technical difficulties, facilitating customs clearance, logistics infrastructure, and preventing stagnation of goods in border provinces with China and key export markets.

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed to the Government a series of solutions to solve difficulties for the production and export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products. Among the proposed solutions, is the vaccine the most important solution, sir?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed to the Government four solutions to remove difficulties for the production and export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products. In which, it can be said that vaccination for workers is considered the current focus.

According to the assessment of the Southern Working Group, after working directly with people, cooperatives, cooperative groups, as well as production and processing enterprises in 19 provinces and cities in the South, the current problem is the production of agriculture, forestry and fishery is good with high output, but many localities implement social distancing, even apply curfews after 6pm, many material areas are blocked, greatly affecting production and harvests.

The capacity at seafood processing factories and slaughterhouses decreased to 50% due to lack of raw materials and workers for production.

Processing factories and slaughterhouses face great difficulty in maintaining the production of "3 in one spot", due to the high costs of ensuring disease safety, so they have to stop operating.

Most workers have not been vaccinated (60 - 70%), when there is an infection, they have to close, causing huge losses. If this is not resolved, it will lead to a shortage of preliminarily processed and processed products for domestic consumption and export.

In addition, in the face of complicated developments in both the southern and northern provinces, the risk of disruption in agricultural production and the supply chain of agriculture, forestry and fishery is very high.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has determined that it is necessary to create favorable conditions for agro-forestry-fishery processing factories, livestock and poultry slaughtering establishments, the operation of fishing ports, fishing vessels, etc. to meet the conditions of pandemic prevention and control, while not disrupting production and supply chains, affecting the livelihoods of thousands of farmers in each locality, as well as ensuring food security and social security of the whole country and supply for export both in the short term and in the long term.

Thank you Deputy Minister!

In the first seven months of 2021, the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products was estimated at US$28.6 billion, up by 26.7% compared to the same period last year; import is estimated at about US$24.7 billion, up by 42.8%; trade surplus is about US$3.9 billion. 

In particular, many products/product groups with increased export value include: vegetables and fruits, pepper, cashew nuts, cassava and products from cassava, livestock products, pangasius, shrimp.