Hanoi (VNA) – Typhoon Yagi and the accompanying floods wreaked havoc on the northern region. Total damage is estimated at 50 trillion VND (2 billion USD). Localities are hastening efforts to recover agricultural production to ensur🐎e food supply as well as the sectors’ commercial output.

Crop farming, forestry immediately restore production

To crop production, more than 200,000 hectares of rice and 50,600 hectares of other crops were flooded while over 61,100 hectares were completely devastated. To restore agriculture, the National Agricultural Extension Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has issued guidance for localities and agricultural extension systems in the northern region. They detail how to address the consequences of natural disasters, care for crops and livestock, and assess losses to propose settlement measures. It has organised training courses for farmers to help with the cultivation of short-term bean, biomass maize, and winter vegetable varieties. The centre has also called on businesses and sponsors to assist farmers by supplying plant seeds, fertilisers, and other agricultural materials. In particular, the Vietnam National Seed Group has supplied 22.5 tonnes of crop seeds, including maize, vegetable, bean, and turnip, worth about 3 billion VND (nearly 120,900 USD) for Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces. It plans to deliver assistance to Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, and Bac Giang provinces in the time ahead. Apart from crop farming, the forestry sector has also borne the brunt of the storm. The MARD’s Administration of Forestry said natural disasters took a heavy toll on nearly 170,000 hectares of production forest, as well as timber and forestry product processing and exporting establishments in northern mountainous areas. MARD Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri noted Typhoon Yagi impacted the whole production chain of the forestry sector, from seedlings, forest development to forestry product processing, not only at present but also the entire forestry production cycle.

In terms of destroyed forested areas, he demanded optimising timber in those areas and immediately carrying out re-afforestation. Meanwhile, local authorities need to initiate measures involved in recovering and developing the forests in less affected areas. He asked the entire forestry sector to review seedling sources and local demand to ensure supply for re-afforestation. The Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences was assigned to prepare seedlings of original varieties and consider quality seed import. Besides, the Forestry Administration and the Forest Protection Department will continue giving technical guidance to localities in forest exploitation, clean-up and fire prevention since forest fire risk often increases after storms.

Livestock farming, aquaculture need more resources for recovery

Typhoon Yagi and subsequent floods triggered considerable impacts on livestock farming and aquaculture, which post the fastest growth among agricultural sectors. Preliminary statistics show that more than 26,400 head of livestock and nearly 3 million poultry were killed or lost in the storm while 3,722 aquacultural cages were broken or washed away.

To assist farmers and businesses to resume production, the MARD organised a conference on September 28 to discuss support for livestock farming and aquaculture in the storm and flood-hit localities. MARD Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said the animal health sector will provide farmers with knowledge and solutions about farm cleaning and biological safety. Guidance on post-disaster farming will also be issued. He demanded a careful review be made to ensure assistance in cash and in kind is delivered to the right recipients. As livestock farming and aquaculture need a substantial amount of time and resources to recover, the MARD is surveying damage and exerting efforts to implement the Prime Minister-approved Resolution No. 143/NQ-CP to help farmers resume agricultural production. It is also proposing such measures such as extending debt repayment deadlines, supporting affected businesses, cooperatives and small farms, and dealing with insurance claims./.