Urban farmland faces steady decline

Agricultural land in HCM City has been declining every year as it is taken for other purposes, and the loss is higher than estimated, participants said at a meeting held on Thursday.

In the 2004-08 five-year period, the city’s agricultural land reduced by 2,200ha to 120,000ha, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Participants asserted, however, that the area of farmland transferred for other purposes was higher than the reported figure.

Nguyen Minh Hoang, a delegate to the municipal People’s Council, said that during a recent visit to an agricultural area in Cu Chi District, a delegation of city legislators only saw houses.

On paper, the area had dozens of hectares under agricultural cultivation, Hoang said.

Besides agricultural land taken for the city’s urbanisation plans, several areas in the city’s outlying areas have been used to build houses or abandoned due to environmental pollution, according to participants.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, the department deputy director, said under the city’s plan of using agricultural land to 2020, the city has petitioned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to allow the city to transfer 40,000ha of agriculture land for developing trade, services and transport infrastructure.

However, the ministry has only allowed the city to transfer 20,000ha of agriculture land for these purposes, Nhan said.

The meeting was organised by the department and the municipal People’s Council. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam agriculture, Vietnam Urban farmland