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Nearly 350,000 ha of land for rice cultivation in Vietnam have been turned into non-farming purposes over the past decade.
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| Increasing amounts of farm land has gone to IP development |
The findings were part of a report issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang at a meeting of the National Assembly’s on-going second session on October 20.
According to the report about land use during the 2011-2015 period and the planning between 2011 and 2020, an additional 300,000 ha land will be turned to non-agricultural purposes from now until 2020, mostly for building industrial parks and urban areas.
Ca Mau Province has seen a 6,200 ha reduction in farm land each year, Bac Lieu 5,400, Ho Chi Minh City 2,700 and many Red River delta localities such as Hai Duong, Hung Yen and Vinh Phuc provinces have also witnessed a decline of 1,000 ha annually.
Farming land is forecast to further decline after 2020, meanwhile, reclaimed land and expansion of rice cultivation area is very limited.
By 2020, Vietnam’s population is expected to reach some 100 million people. The country will need at least 7.3 million ha of farming land to produce a food output of 47 million tonnes by that time to meet growing demand.
The nation is among five countries hardest-hit by climate change. It is forecast that around 6,000 ha of agricultural land may be affected by the rising sea water by 2020.
To deal with the situation, the Government has proposed the National Assembly to retain an area of 3.81 million ha for farming land in 2011-2015 period. Earlier, localities nationwide sought National Assembly permission to transfer 500,000 ha of agricultural land to non-farming purposes.
Chairman of the National Assembly Economics Committee Nguyen Van Giau agreed with the proposal, saying that this was necessary to ensure the national food security.
More land is being used for building industrial parks and complexes. Area devoted to industrial parks increased from 23,000 in 2000 to 100,000 ha in 2010.
Currently, the country has 267 IPs and the figure is expected to rise to 547 by 2020 covering a total area of 200,000 ha.
However, the occupancy rate of many IPs remains low with an average rate of 45.63% over past decade.
Meanwhile, the country is in dire need of land fund for education and health infrastructure. The committee recommended comprehensive planning for cultural, health, education and entertainment work construction over the next ten years.
