Authors of 56 most outstanding among 300 nominated agricultural products and initiatives were honoured with the Vietnam Golden Rice Ear Award.
The award ceremony
The award ceremony was held on November 14, at Hanoi Opera House with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister, Vu Van Ninh and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat.
This is the first event of its kind to be held in Vietnam in honour products and initiatives spanning seven agricultural categories including inventions, effective solutions, science research and technology development works, varieties of crop plants and domestic animals, agricultural technical materials, models for agriculture and rural development as well as prestigious agricultural trademarks.
Among the awarded, several are products and trademarks familiar to Vietnamese consumers, such as Moc Chau milk, Phu Quoc fish sauce, Dau Trau fertilizer, Lam Thao superphosphate, Ha Bac URE fertilizer, and Dien Bien fragrant rice.
Several individuals were also honoured for their outstanding initiatives including a cashew picking machine invented by Ngo Ngoc Quang from the southern province of Binh Phuoc, together with the conservation and development efforts of Vietnamese traditional agricultural villages by Dr. Ngo Kieu Oanh.
Speaking at the ceremony, Cao Duc Phat said this is the sole award given by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to honour individuals and organisations for their outstanding and high-quality products.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said, “I highly appreciate MARD for devising the idea of presenting these awards, which could encourage more innovation of such products in the future. This will help realise the Central Party Committee’s Resolution 26 on agriculture and rural development to ensure the country’s long-term food security.”
Ninh called on MARD to continue developing the these awards in the following years, along with studying and proposing solutions to support inventions and initiatives that could have real applications.
Tran Cong Chien, General Director of Moc Chau Milk Company, one of the awarded institutions, said that the award would encourage more people to take part in milk production in the time to come, improving the quality of production in Vietnam as well as boosting exports.
Dr. Ngo Kieu Oanh, awarded for a model of developing sustainable tourism and development of Vietnamese traditional agricultural villages, said traditional agriculture is of great importance to the development of agricultural and cultural development in Vietnamese rural areas. Agriculture-based tourism is an area expected to expand in coming years, hopefully, Oanh said, with a number of benefits.
Oanh is also among developers of a project to preserve the old Duong Lam Village in Hanoi’s Son Tay Town. She added that, in order to preserve traditional agricultural village, it would be necessary to help farmers earn a livable wage on their traditional agricultural economy, focusing on sustainable products.
