At a press conference in Hanoi on Nov. 9 following a ministerial round-table meeting on rice issues and food security within the framework of the third International Rice Congress, Minister Phat said the common challenges to countries are food security in the context of climate change, increasing population and shrinking areas of productive land.
Vietnam has more than 9 million hectares of agricultural land, including 4.1 million ha for rice cultivation, said the minister.
Phat said Vietnam has created a series of solutions to ensure food security by deeply reforming market mechanisms, handing land use rights to farmers and investing in irrigation systems.
In addition, Vietnam has paid attention to breeding research programmes, to create high-yield varieties, and is developing agricultural services, supplying processing equipment, exporting farm products and renovating cooperatives, he added.
At the meeting, Asian agriculture ministers focused their discussions on challenges to the development of the rice sector, putting forward measures to handle these challenges in their own countries and promote international cooperation on a global scale.
Asia is the fastest developing and largest rice production region but has the highest poverty rate, making up two-thirds of the world’s hunger population, said the conference.
Investment in agriculture and rice production remains low due to its high risk and rice diseases have developed on a larger scale.
The countries emphasised the necessity to have a new revolution in breeds and technology to increase rice yield on a global scale.
Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Robert S. Zeigler said climate change has become more severe and it has affected many nations.
Unpredictable rainfall has caused difficulties, along with storm and drought, he said.
However, the IRRI leader said he is confident that during the next 10-20 years, nations will have enough time to prepare suitable solutions to cope with climate change and have better rice management methods.
Furthermore scientific and technological development will help countries to minimise the consequences of disasters in rice production, he said./.
