GLOBAL INDEX 2011 KUBOTA CORPORATE COMMUNICATION MAGAZINE

11/48

1011In its 2001-2010 Strategy for Socio-Economic Development *1, the Vietnamese Government set forth that it would accelerate industrialization and modernization of the country in order to become a full-fledged industrial country by 2020. Since 2000, their GDP CAGR has been over 7%, and GDP per capita topped US$1,000 in 2008. This rapid economic growth has had no small impact on rice farming. Before going into the details of the present situation, let us take some time to look back at the modern history of agriculture in Vietnam, which has undergone considerable vicissitudes as it was tossed about by the country’s political regime. When the country was divided between the north and south, farmers in North Vietnam formed “cooperatives” for collective farming, whereas their counterparts in South Vietnam followed a landholding system. After the country was unified, collectivization of agriculture was promoted rather abruptly in an effort to establish a socialist country, but agricultural output dropped significantly due to inefficient production and a decline in motivation on the part of producers, with the result that it became necessary to import rice. Faced with a serious food shortage, the Vietnamese Government made an about-face in its agricultural policy: rather than trying to collectivize farmers into cooperatives, they encouraged family operations and allowed them to trade surplus products freely at market price. As a result, Vietnam’s agricultural production increased tremendously to make it the world’s third largest rice exporting country in 1989, but this was not the end of their reforms. With the revision of the Land Law in 1993, households or individuals were entitled to exchange, transfer, lease, inherit, and mortgage land use rights. This virtually authorized the privatization of land, which was still supposed to be held by the State, if only in name. The country went on in 1996 to become the world’s second largest rice producer after Thailand, a position it still holds to this day.The driving force behind all of these developments was the Mekong Delta, which recorded during the same period a large and rapid increase in rice production unparalleled in the history of Asia. According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, rice production in the Mekong Delta region stood at 12.83 million tons in 1995, which then grew to become 16.70 million tons five years later in 2000. In 2009, of the 38.90 million tons of rice produced in Vietnam (the fifth largest volume in the world), 20.48 million tons, or 52%, was produced in the Mekong Delta region. Such a surge in production is partially attributable to the Vietnamese Government’s policy for increased rice production. By casting the Mekong Delta as a strategic export rice production center, they focused their investments in the development of irrigation and drainage systems in that region. The result was an increase in the area of paddy fields and in crop acreage due to double and triple cropping. Other factors contributing to the phenomenal increase in rice production included the diffusion of new rice varieties with high yield, greater use of fertilizers and other production materials, and the introduction of tractors and other agricultural machinery.Winding Road for Farming in VietnamSurging Rice Production in the Mekong DeltaLeft: Portraits of Ho Chi Minh, symbol of the country’s unification, are still found everywhere in the country.Right: Unhulled indica rice (polished)Indica makes up the majority of rice produced in Vietnam.Region-specific rice acreage/production in VietnamGDP per capita in VietnamRed River DeltaNorthern Midlands and Mountain AreasNorth Central and Central Coastal Areas Central HighlandsSouth East AreaMekong River DeltaWhole country 115.566.9122.221.430.7387.316%9%16%3%4%52%6,796.33,047.16,252.0994.31,322.420,483.4744.038,895.5General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2009Acreage (10,000 ha)Production (1,000 t)02004006008001,0001,200(US$)20092008200720062005200420032002Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2009National development planning announced by the Vietnamese Government. With the goal of leaving behind its status as a low-income country (by 2010) to become an industrialized country (by 2020), the government plans to accelerate industrialization and modernization along the socialist line, while laying the foundations to become an advanced industrialized country by 2020.*1 2001-2010 Strategy for Socio-Economic Development% to total acreage

※このページを正しく表示するにはFlashPlayer9以上が必要です