Cultivation is one of the key sectors of the agricultural sector. The gross output of the crop industry accounts for 64-68% of the production value of the entire agricultural sector. Cultivation is also a specific field because it is a field stretching over a large space, with seasonal elements, directly affected by weather, climate and especially the disadvantages due to climate change brings. In the context that agriculture is being innovated, including agricultural restructuring, product diversification, increasing the value of exported agricultural products and transfer of advanced technology, plant varieties and breeds, high productivity and quality meet international standards, the field of cultivation focuses on transforming crop structure towards improving quality and efficiency.
This is reflected in the reduction of ineffective annual crop area to other crops with higher economic value such as converting drought, salty or ineffective rice acreage to growing vegetables, crops, etc. Perennial industrial crops and fruit trees produce products with a market for consumption both at home and abroad with higher returns than rice cultivation. For each type of tree, both restructure the area and change the variety to be suitable for high productivity and good product quality. Therefore, the production efficiency per unit area has continuously increased over the years, the value of products obtained per 1 hectare of cultivated land increased from 82.6 million dongs/ha in 2015 to 97.1 million dongs/ha in 2019. In 2015, the area of annual crops accounted for 78.3% of the total area of crops of all kinds, perennial trees accounted for 21.7%, of which fruit trees accounted for 5.5%, by 2020 annual crop area decreased to 75.1% and perennial crop area increased to 24.9%, of which fruit trees reached 7.8%.
For paddy, restructure the rice industry in the direction of improving efficiency and developing sustainably with the following objectives: Fully satisfying domestic consumption demand, ensuring national food security; improve quality, nutritional value, ensure food hygiene and safety; forming and improving the efficiency of the rice value chain; improve farmers’ income and benefit consumers; export rice of high quality and value. The rice cultivated area in 2015 accounts for 52.4% of the total cultivated area of all kinds of crops, by 2020 it will decrease to 50.3%. The cultivated area of rice decreased, but instead, it was using certified rice varieties with diversified cultivation processes, adapting to weather conditions, resulting in stable high yields, meeting market requirements. Increasing the proportion of high quality rice with great export value. By 2020, medium quality rice is exported to only about 40% of the total turnover; aromatic rice and high-quality rice accounts for about 40% of the export turnover. The restructuring has also promoted the hybridization and selection of varieties, the first time Vietnam has a fragrant rice variety winning the title of the world’s best rice, ST25 rice.
For fruit trees, this is the group of crops that has made a great leap over the years. While the area of rice and annual industrial crops tends to decrease, the area of perennial crops increases, especially fruit trees. Fruit trees are focused on developing in the direction of sustainable commodity production, contributing to agricultural restructuring, and raising income for farmers. Many regions specializing in cultivation, large basket of fruit trees for export with very high value have been formed in many areas across the country such as in the Mekong Delta (Tien Giang, Dong Thap, Ben Tre), in the Central Highlands, the North Central region and especially the leaps and bounds of large fruit stands in the Northern Midlands and Mountains such as Son La and Bac Giang. In 2015, the area of growing fruit crops only reached 5.5% of the total area of crops, by 2020 it increased to 7.8%. In particular, increasing the area of high quality and high yield fruit trees to meet the domestic and export markets; eliminating old perennial crops to focus on valuable crops. A series of quality and disease-free fruit varieties have been put into production, in parallel with groups of synchronous cultivation and intensive farming techniques solutions have been deployed in large fruit tree areas of the country. Fruit products not only dominate the domestic market but also reach foreign markets to conquer fastidious markets such as the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand.
In addition, our country has advantages in the production of perennial industrial crops due to diverse soil, climate and crop ecosystems. Main perennial industrial crops include: coffee, rubber, tea, cashew, pepper and coconut which are very suitable for many regions and localities to serve raw materials for the processing industry and exportation. In the past period, there have been programs and projects aimed at improving productivity and sustainable value of perennial industrial crops, especially the coffee replanting program for the provinces of the Central Highlands and Southeast, controlling program dangerous diseases for pepper in the southern provinces and maintain the status for tea trees in the northern provinces. The area of perennial industrial crops increased not only much, from 14.4% of the total area of crops in 2015 to 15.1% by 2020 but increased the area of good agricultural practices such as VietGAP, GlobalGAP … The old, low-yielding perennial industrial crops will replace new plantings or replanting reasonably with varieties of clear origin, with stable yield and quality. The main industrial crops are still basically kept the value and go into sustainable development.
Restructuring crops in the direction of improving quality and efficiency is asserting its practicality and correctness in order to effectively exploit its potentials and advantages and to respond to climate change. The successful transformation has contributed to the development of modern agricultural production, increasing income for farmers and building new rural areas in the localities.