Vietnam to cut 270,000ha of rice-growing land by 2020

A recent report by the National Assembly economic committee addressed the government’s aim to reduce land used for growing rice in Vietnam over the next five years.

The plan is mentioned in the evaluation report on the national scheme to adjust land use planning by 2020 and the last five-year plan for land use (2016-2020).

The reduction was proposed by the Vietnamese government and approved by the assembly’s Committee for Economic Affairs.

Presenting the evaluation report, Nguyen Van Giau, chairman of the committee, said the government recommended that by 2020 there should be 3.76 million hectares of land used for growing rice, a 270,000ha reduction from 2015.

The government also plans to reserve 400,000ha of land for growing other crops but which must be ready to switch back to rice as required.

The committee ratified the plan, giving the reason that rice supply in the country has become abundant, while traditional foreign importers of Vietnam’s rice have achieved autonomy in domestic food production.

The committee also named drought, soil salinization, flooding, and land degradation as the reasons for the cut, given that they are unfavorable conditions for the growth of rice.

The unused land should be leveraged to build new infrastructures, industries, and cities, as well as growing other crops, the government proposed.

Giau added that advanced agricultural technology would be implemented on the remaining area of rice-growing land, which is expected to significantly boost rice production to around 42 million metric tons per year.

With such a production rate, Giau said, Vietnam would maintain food security for the present, as well as in the future when the country’s population reaches and stabilizes at 120 million.

Vietnam now has a population of around 90 million.

Earlier, Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang presented a governmental report, which looked to reserve 11,000ha of land for building 96 golf courses across the country, which is a part of the national plan to put aside 46,800ha of land for sports facilities.

“These golf courses are mainly built on lands that are of bad quality, sandy, or unused,” Quang said, adding that such facilities would not occupy lands used for growing rice or other special purposes.

The government suggested a cut in national defense and public security land as well, after re-evaluating their practical demand.