Hanoi (VNA) –♛ The northern province of Hung Yen’s agriculture restructuring in conjunction with new-style rural building has brought about significant improvements to the local development and people’s living standards.

According to Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Do Minh Tuan, between 2021 and 2023, the Hung Yen People's Committee has collaborated with departments, sectors, and localities to carry out tasks supporting the development of agricultural production in the areas of cultivation, livestock farming, aquaculture, value chain production, and model new-style rural building. The average annual growth rate of agro-fishery production value in the 2021-2022 period reached 2.66%. By early 2023, the province had successfully converted 18,990ha of low-efficiency crops into annual crops, fruit trees, and economically efficient aquaculture. The internal structure of the farming sector has shifted towards enhancing quality and efficiency. Several specialised plantations have been formed, and concentrated commodity production areas developed, turning out high-quality rice, safe vegetables, fruit trees cultivated following Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) standards, and organic products. The value of agricultural products has topped 230 million VND (9,542 USD) per hectare, an increase of over 20 million VND compared to that in 2020, ensuring food security and stabilising the lives of rural residents. As of August 2023, Hung Yen had seen 98 and 24 local communes accredited as advanced and model new-style rural areas, respectively, and 199 One Commune One Product (OCOP) goods rated three or four stars. Tuan said in the coming time, the province will continue to restructure its agriculture sector towards large-scale and safe commodity production and high-tech application, creating competitive and sustainable products. There will also be a focus on digital transformation and technology application in agricultural and rural development, he noted. Regarding the provincial new-style rural building programme for 2021-2025, the priorities for the remaining period are on the investment in agricultural production and infrastructure development, and on the development of advanced and model new-style rural areas according to the plan. The province aims to have 100% of its communes meeting the advanced new-style rural standards and 50% recognised as model new-style rural ones by 2025. A new set of criteria for new-style rural communes and another for advanced new-style rural communes for the 2021-2025 period were issued on March 8, 2022, following Decision No.318/QD-TTg. Under the decision, a new-style rural commune has to meet 19 criteria in many fields, including planning, socioeconomic infrastructure, economy and production, socio-culture, and the environment. The criteria are specified for different regions. Specifically, a new-style commune must have 80% of its farming area with active irrigation systems. The communes should have cooperatives operating effectively along with production-selling connection models, implementing origin tracking regulations on their major products and developing farming areas to meet VietGAP standards. At the same time, they must satisfy criteria on healthcare insurance coverage, the rate of malnutrition among children under five years old, and that of residents having electronic medical records. They must show strong performance in environmental protection, especially waste treatment systems, along with criteria on food safety. Meanwhile, an advanced new-style rural commune must meet all the criteria of a basic new-style rural area and have higher standards across all the 19 criteria, according to the decision./.