The Hanoitimes - The Government has adopted multiple policies to prop up farms but farmers have still found it hard to gain access to much-needed financial support.
A meeting between the Vietnam Association of Rural, Farmer Entrepreneurs and Farm-owners (VARFEF) and authorities heard several suggestions on how to help farm owners and agricultural enterprises benefit the government pro-farm policies, particularly Decree 61/2011/ND-CP.
Le Duy Minh, owner of an afforestation farm in Binh Phuoc, said he and many other farm owners could not benefit from the agricultural support policies detailed in Government Decree 61 and the Ministry of Finance’s Circular 84 due to little or no knowledge of administrative procedures.
The same thing has happened to Nguyen Van Minh from Huu Tin Company, specializing in growing oil plants and herbs in Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Khanh Hoa. Though Decree 61 took effect on July 25 last year, he has not been able to receive financial aid as stated in the decree as he was uninformed of necessary administrative procedures.
Nguyen Van Bay, vice principal of College of Management for Agriculture and Rural Development 2 (CMARD 2), said that while he was giving guidance for many farms to do the paperwork, he found that the finance ministry’s Circular 81 and Circular 06 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment had several overlapping procedures. Therefore, without appropriate legal advice, financial incentives will get out of farm owners’ reach.
According to a representative of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, farms cannot access low-cost funding sources as specified in Decree 61 because they do not know which procedures to complete and which agencies to work with.
Therefore, the department suggested VARFEF should establish a division specializing in giving guidelines on administrative and legal procedures so as to help reduce farms apply for financial support from the government.
However, Bay of CMARD 2 said the financial aid for farms is actually sourced from the provincial budgets, not the State’s. Meanwhile, many localities are heavily dependent on annual allocations from the State budget, making it harder for farms to approach financial assistance.
Bay mentioned the possibility that a farm fully meets the requirements of Circular 84 and 06 but the locality runs out of cash.
