Viet Nam, as well as other Asian countries in which agriculture has played a critical role in growth, is currently facing new challenges that require new models for sustainable development, a conference heard yesterday.
At the opening of the 7th international conference of the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists held in Ha Noi, international and domestic delegations agreed that Asia had been emerging as a new economic force in the world and that the agricultural sector was a primary engine of the economy.
Rising demand for food in the region and throughout the globe required an increase in production, they said. However, increasingly limited land and water resources, natural calamities, climate change and other social changes had affected agricultural production and posed risks to food security in these countries.
Dang Kim Son, general director of Viet Nam’s Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development said that high economic growth would improve living standards, but would also widen the income gap between rural and urban areas, ensure rural poverty and create social conflicts.
“This required consideration of a better model for agricultural and rural development for the future,” Son said.
“Viet Nam, with nearly 70 per cent of its population living in rural areas and an agricultural sector which ensured the livelihood of a large portion of the population, also needed strong policies to maintain stable growth of the sector,” he said.
Choe Yangboo, President of the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists said the assurance of food security was hot topic in regional countries, especially with urbanisation and the decreasing availability of cultivation area.
He said maintaining agricultural land, for rice production in particular, was one way to ensure stable development.
Delegations agreed that the conference, which is held every three years, would be an opportunity for researchers, scholars and policy makers in Asia to discuss and co-operate with each other to solve complicated issues as they emerged during the development process.
More than 300 delegations from 30 countries will join seven sessions to discuss agricultural-related issues in Asia today. Participants expect to find useful ideas and strategies that can be put into practice.
The event is co-organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists.
