Broken dreams fill Mekong Delta farmlands

Thousands of projects to develop farms in the Mekong Delta region have been managed ineffectively over the last few years, many of which have gone bankrupt or been dissolved entirely.

Tra Vinh is a typical province in the Mekong Delta with a farm development plan that has been a complete failure.

According to Tra Vinh Rural Development Sub-department, the province once had 3216 farms. Since the farms ran ineffectively, their numbers have plummeted.

There are now only 1764 operational farms, mostly in aquaculture, cultivation and breeding. Many have been running perfunctorily, while only a few farms report a profit.

In 2005-2006, Tien Thi Hanh’s sow farm was praised as a typical flourishing farm. Now they are incurring heavy debts.

Hanh related that, initially, her family bred only four pigs. Since the province applied a policy to encourage farms, she borrowed 60 million dong to develop hers. After three years, their herd developed rapidly, with 27 sows and 200 piglets. After paying back the loan at a preferential interest rate, she borrowed another 95 million dong for feed and medicine.

Hanh showed reporters around her 500 square metre pig farm that has been left idle for several years as she continued. “Then, the blue ear epidemic broke out suddenly in 2008. Pork prices dropped dramatically, while it was difficult to find buyers. The prices of feed, medicine and input materials increased rapidly. As a result, the capital we invested in the pigs was all gone.”

She revealed that her family had to sell 40 cong of rice fields (one cong is equal to 1000 square metre) to pay the debts, and now she does not have any money to pay her 95 million dong bank loan.

According to Nguyen Quoc Huy from the Chau Thanh District’s Agriculture Sub-department in Tra Vinh province, the “golden age” of the farm development movement was in 2003-2004. The district once had 225 farms, but now 17 have been dissolved because they could not meet operational requirements. Huy admitted that, among the other 208 farms, only eight can make a profit, while the other farms run perfunctorily. Meanwhile, epidemics, price fluctuations and product unsalability have all forced many farms into bankruptcy.

Similarly, Tieu Can District in Tra Vinh province once had 232 farms, but 92 have closed and 23 have halted operations.

In 2000, Tra Vinh province applied investment incentives to encourage farm development to help farmers improve living standards. Farmers could borrow preferential loans to build farms and ponds and enjoy many other preferences.

Encouraged by these policies, thousands applied to establish household farms.

According to Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon, a lot of farms blossomed within a short time due to “easy conditions”. To set up a farm, households only needed to apply to authorities and submit a feasible plan of development.

In theory, money was only disbursed after authorities examined the projects, but in reality, many officials made cursory investigations and signed approvals as they wanted to open as many farms as possible. As a result, many farmers used borrowed capital for the wrong purposes and others lacked necessary farming knowledge. They then endured losses and could not repay their bank debts.

Pham Hong Quan from Tra Vinh Rural Development Sub-department thinks that, since farms have been operating separately and farm owners do not cooperate, development has been unsustainable.

Tags: Mekong Delta, Vietnam agriculture