Long Thanh Farmers ceaselessly develop agriculture

Squash harvested in Long An Commune

Long Thanh have advantages in developing industrial, agricultural and service sectors. With the population of 240 thousand, the working age population is 125 thousand, 16.8 percent of who do farming. The total number of agricultural households is 15,600, accounting for 35 percent of the total households across the district and there are 17,216 members of the Farmers’ Association, making up 81.4 percent.

Before 1990s, Long Thanh is a district with agricultural – service – industrial economic structure. After implementing the Party’s renovation policy, known as Doi Moi, it gradually shifts to the industrial – service – agricultural structure. Conversion from agriculture as the key sector to industry as the main one, the district’s party committee has gathered all forces to gain a high economic growth rate.

While the economic structure was transferred, a part of agricultural land was conversed to use for industrial and service sector and the farming forces in turn was on the decrease. This transfer is an obvious tendency but it has exerted a direct influence on the working forces in the rural area, especially when more and more young people become workers.

Knowing the advantages and difficulties in the economic development, Long Thanh’s Party Committee determines to develop agriculture to trigger the industrial and service growth. Based on the district’s policies, Long Thanh Farmers’ Association has supported the farmers to build a new rural area.

Long Thanh farmers harvest rice

One way the district’s leaders has done is to collaborate with specialized units to organize a number of training courses, transfer scientific advances in the fields of plants and domestic animals to farmers and hold seminars,  workshops or tours to places with good and successful models for farmers to learn from. As the result, while only 1000 households gained the good farmer title in 2000, this number has increased to 7,005 across the district in 2007.

These households have become key forces in the campaigns launched by the district and the Farmers’ Association by giving instructions, sharing experience and helping other poor farmers with capital, seed varieties and animal breeds. Besides, the district also ceaselessly develops household and farm economy to both meet the market’s demand for goods and increase the farmers’ income.

Long Thanh farmers not only do farming but also make a good job of following the campaign “farmers together build the countryside” with the motto “The State and farmers work together” and they have contributed over VND2 billion (US$120,000) and more than 16 thousand working days.

Particularly, in late July 2008, Long Thanh Farmers’ Association has lent 12 difficulty-hit and capital-lacking households in Loc An Commune. Each household was lent VND5million (US$300) in 12 months with the interest rate of 0.7 percent per month so that they could buy seed varieties and animal breeds for production. This amount of money was contributed by the good farmers in the district to the farmer supporting fund.

Reported by Thanh Tam, Translated by Tuyenvanah