Many localities in Sóc Sơn District have conducted master-planning for transports within fields as part of the program on farm land restructuring (Photo: www.chaobuoisang.net)

(VOVworld) One of the key targets in planning new rural development is to get farmers to restructure their farm land. This is an important phase in establishing a stable and long-term agricultural production zone and a decisive factor in boosting agricultural production. Today, we’ll look at a movement to restructure farm land in Hanoi.

Song Phuong commune in Dan Phuong District is one of the leading villages in developing new rural areas in Hanoi’s outskirts. In Song Phuong, village roads and lanes have been asphalted and widened. Even more impressively, industrialized agriculture has been set up there. Ta Thi Hai, Deputy Head of the Song Phuong Agriculture Cooperative, says the commune has completed its restructuring of farm land. Now each household has just one or two fields covering thousands of square meters. This is a good structure for growing high quality flowers or safe vegetables, which can bring in much higher revenues than rice cultivation. Chu Duc Tri, Secretary of Hoai Duc District’s Party Committee, says ''It’s hard and takes a long time to persuade local farmers to follow the movement as it relates directly to their interests, especially for those whose paddy fields are determined to be in excess after measurement. It’s also difficult to ascertain the interests of farm households who say they have paddy fields in a better geographical location'.

To implement the National Targets Program on New Rural Development, planning must be the start, a prerequisite condition in the process in which mobilizing farmers to discuss farm land restructuring is extremely important. Once farmers join the effort, the application of advanced technology to set up large-scale agricultural production, protect the environment, and have sustainable growth can be successful. The most important factor in the restructuring process is local awareness, according to Le Thiet Cuong, head of Hanoi’s Agricultural Development Department. He says ''Arguments among households often take place while restructuring the farm land which often involves land re-division. But if local senior leaders set examples in abiding by the law, the land restructuring will be done more easily. What has been done in Hop Thanh commune is a case in point’.

The story in Hop Thanh commune, My Duc District, proves that once there’s a sound policy along with local consensus, any task will become easy. Duong Thi An - a farmer in Hop Thanh Commune - has this to say ''In the past, when we were provided with farm land, there was no measurement. Everything was a rough estimate. Now machines are used to measure our farm land and paddy fields. It has become more accurate.’

In the past 2 years, the new rural model has been piloted in Hanoi’s outlying districts. To date, Thuy Huong commune has completed 18 of 19 new rural development criteria with economic growth reaching 23% per year and per capita income doubling in 2009. By the end of this year, Hanoi hopes to complete its farm land restructuring to serve as a foundation for improving the value of cultivated land.

To Tuan