Vietnam should build a responsible agriculture as food production activities in many localities are not only causing greenhouse gas emissions but also suffer from high production costs.

The remark was made by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan at a virtual meeting with international partners on experiences in sustainable agricultural and rural development held on September 1.

Minister Le Minh Hoan shared that the process of restructuring Vietnam's agriculture has been in implementation for many years and has achieved very positive results. However, to make the agricultural sector become an important pillar of the economy and a national image towards sustainable development in the future, Vietnam should take many different approaches.

Dina Umali Deininger – Practice Manager at East Asia and Pacific region, Agriculture and Food Global Practice department at the World Bank – said that although the export value of Vietnam's agricultural products has continuously grown in recent years and reached about US$42 billion per year, Vietnam's agricultural industry also faces many problems such as water and air pollution, salinisation, biodiversity reduction, and land degradation in many Mekong Delta provinces.

She noted that Vietnam should manage inputs more scientifically, apply advanced farming techniques, improve straw treatment, and switch from rice monoculture to smart production that is adaptable to climate change, while also paying more attention to the carbon market because Vietnam still has room to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Agricultural Counsellor of the US Embassy in Vietnam Robert Hanson said that Vietnam is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Therefore, it is necessary to promote leadership, management, and cooperation of stakeholders for sustainable agricultural and rural development in addition to boosting innovation and technology to achieve the above goal.

Minister Le Minh Hoan shared that agricultural economy also includes the knowledge economy – the future economy – not just the classical economy as usual.

He noted that the Vietnamese agricultural sector must follow the trend of circular economy, thereby making use of agricultural wastes and by-products and creating more jobs in rural areas as well as building the rural economic ecosystem.

This is also the commitment of the Vietnamese Government to boosting sustainable development based on three pillars of economy, society, and environment, Hoan added .