Global Agriculture

Minister Le Minh Hoan: Connecting agricultural products is connecting people

01 September 2021, China: On August 31, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Minister Le Minh Hoan chaired the Forum for Connecting agricultural production and consumption, with online attendance of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

The purpose of the forum is forming and connecting the stages of production, processing, harvesting, circulation and consumption of agricultural products… Thereby, creating a close, multi-dimensional “link – cooperation” between management agencies, businesses and farmers.

On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Minister Le Minh Hoan thanked the members of Working Group 970. The Minister said that when Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam and Working Group 970 entered the South, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development soon joined the task force in the South. determining the number one priority is to ensure that the supply chain of agricultural products in the southern provinces is not disrupted. Through the actual work process, the Ministry will take advantage of observation from production, supply to market operation. From there, the agricultural industry will arise ideas about agricultural management and administration.

Promoting responsible manufacturing

At the beginning of the speech of the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said that he highly appreciated the idea of ​​Working Group 970, which has now become an operational outline. Although the Working Group had to operate in a very difficult area, it has now put the idea into practice very effectively. Deputy Minister Doanh suggested continuing to maintain this idea, both connecting and promoting product consumption.

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“This trend is inevitable,” Mr. Doanh affirmed. Leaders of the MARD said that “thousands of difficult beginnings”, but need to be done and perfected. Because the connection of agricultural products both serves consumers, promotes production, encourages responsible and people-centered production as directed by Minister Le Minh Hoan.

“It is not only the mere value of the product, it also has humanistic and historical values. We need to try to build this forum into an effective channel,” said Deputy Minister Doanh.

The premise for the agricultural industry to rapidly transform digitally

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that, in the face of the circumstances and situations where the Covid-19 epidemic has disturbed the production and consumption process, the response capacity of the MARD is very sensitive to take appropriate actions. prompt and decisive action.

“With the direction of the Prime Minister, the MARD has established two working groups to direct the production and supply of agricultural products in the South and the North. The Ministry’s Southern Working Group 970 has directed and acted aggressively, not to disrupt supply chains, and ensure the needs of people in southern provinces and cities in complicated epidemic conditions,” said Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said.

Ministry leaders also said that it is a premise for the agricultural sector to quickly implement digital transformation in the new context. Thereby, high-scale production of goods is accelerated, increasing the value of agricultural products, and opening up the dual supply chain: the domestic chain and the international chain.

Connecting agricultural products is connecting people

Give and you will receive. Make farmers happy, we will get a smile every night before going to bed. Besides Working Group 970, Minister Le Minh Hoan expressed his gratitude to the relevant units who participated in the operation with the Working Group, to create a special and emotional forum like this morning.

“E-commerce is the trend of the 4.0 technology era. I believe, this forum is different from the current e-commerce sites. It lies in depth, not just at the current epidemic time. , but also exist, parallel with the operation of Vietnam’s agriculture”, the Minister said.

With the direction of the MARD, we hope to move from thinking of agricultural production to agricultural economy, from growth based on single value to multi value, and at the same time take the market as the standard for economic development. production and management.

The forum connecting agricultural product consumption not only helps businesses find sources of goods, but also helps state agencies change their management and leadership methods from local to national. On that basis, the agricultural sector will have jobs close to the farmers’ fields and gardens, close to the rural social life. That is what it means to activate the entire society.

One of the successes of Working Group 970 over the past time is the initiative to establish 10kg bags of agricultural products. If we take the output to compare, that is not enough compared to the total supply – demand of agricultural products in the South in particular and the whole country in general. However, that idea will create waves, sparking a new way of doing business. It suggests other ways of operating life, not only because of the epidemic, but also better adapted to the 4.0 revolution, the digital transformation revolution that is creeping into every corner of life.

The role of connecting information and data between producers and consumers in the market is extremely important. However, that is the common weakness of the agricultural industry, when most of us are ignorant about information and data, the two buyers and sellers do not meet each other from connection, quality, to price. This is the time when we need to look directly at the problem, to overcome it together.

Through the forum connecting agricultural product consumption today, we need to start working soon. First, we need a different thought, a different action to produce a different result. Today, that result converges on the creation of this forum. That is a great value, different from existing e-commerce platforms.

The upcoming task is not only to stop the results in the South, which cannot be satisfied in the context of the current epidemic, but needs to replicate the model to the whole country. If before, when mentioning agricultural products, people think of rescue, now we have to change. Agricultural products are to be cherished. All, from producers, consumers, to businesses and management agencies, change together to change and develop the image, quality and value of agricultural products.

Second, through the forum, we will form an agricultural ecosystem. All members must gather, to supplement each other’s strength, join hands on Vietnamese agricultural products and farmers. I believe, there is nothing we cannot do, if there is a guaranteed product from quality, introduction to image promotion.

Third, is to activate the thinking of the development triangle: State – market – society. In which, management agencies, industries, and farmers will be the support, helping to connect the development of agriculture.

Here, we need to note, that the spirit of public-private partnership, not only in terms of capital, but also includes ideas and initiatives. How do we combine and converge many opinions, so that resources do not stop at the government budget allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, but also in society and farmers.

Fourth, is the thinking of agricultural economic development. Only when this issue is radically changed will agriculture create added value. Another thought that needs to change is that the distribution and connection stages also create value, not just the producer. In the current fault context, without circulation and distribution, it is difficult for farmers’ efforts to create high value. Farmers are people who make wealth, but only maintain development if there is more value from business people.

I consider the forum as a place to collect opinions of businesses. Thereby, the MARD can do more in-depth research on value chains, such as logistics and logistics systems, and at the same time do more in-depth research on domestic market development. In the past, we only thought about exporting and boosting exports, but now public-private partnerships also have to take advantage of the available capacity of farmers to develop the market.

Fifth, is to integrate more value into Vietnamese agricultural products, into the growth of the agricultural industry. We need to move from tangible agricultural products to intangible values ​​such as culture, history, or stories about agricultural products. Take that as new motivations and new ideas for farmers.

Sixth, is to create a smooth market from north to south, facilitate regional rotation, expand the development space to a market of 100 million people. How to activate the flow of agricultural products, creating a push for quality products like OCOP.

“Connecting agricultural products will connect people. We need to cherish those who create value for Vietnamese agricultural products. That is the depth value of this forum to connect agricultural product consumption, and also the direction we should take. We have to go,” Minister Le Minh Hoan concluded./.