The Agriculture Competitiveness Project for Vietnam financed by World Bank is being implemented in Binh Dinh province. Binh Dinh Newspaper interviews Ms. Tran Thi Kim Oanh, Vice Director of the Project Management Unit in Binh Dinh (PMU) about the implementation.
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Upgrading and renovating N1 irrigation canal of Hoi Khanh reservoir at My Hoa commune, Phu My district – part of the project’s component C. Photo: Tien Si
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Can you please tell about the implementation of the project in Binh Dinh?
The project has been implemented in 8 central coastal and highland provinces of Vietnam. It has 4 components, including component A - enhancement of agricultural technology, component B - support to productive partnerships, component C - provision of critical infrastructure, and component D - support for project management and institutional strengthening.
In the framework of component A, the PMU organized provincial roundtable meetings and consultations with farmers and businesses in 2009 and 2010 to identify 12 topics of the component A. The 12-topic proposal was agreed by the sponsor.
The 12 topics included research and technology transfer on prevention and treatment of wilt in peanut plants, research and technology transfer on prevention and treatment of diseases in cashew plants, disinfection of mango fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel), building of VietGAP-certified sustainable cultivation model for rice, etc. In 2011, the PMU proposes 7 topics for the approval.
For the component B, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and WB agree to support 11 productive partnerships in 2010 and 2011, including: sustainable production of soybean seeds, production and consumption of Phu Cat mangos, quality improvement of cross-breed cows, production of high quality rice, production of purebred rice seeds, production and consumption of pickled scallion heads, production of certified rice seeds, production and consumption of breeding sugar canes, production and consumption of chilies, feeding up high-yielding cows, production and processing cashew nuts.
The component C has 13 subcomponents: upgrade canals and roads at production areas in communes of My Hoa, My Trinh (Phu My district); Nhon Tho, Nhon Hau (An Nhon district); Phu Phong (Tay Son district); Phuoc Hoa, Phuoc Son (Tuy Phuoc district); An Hoa (An Lao district); Hoai Duc, Hoai Xuan (Hoai Nhon district); An Tin (Hoai An district); towns of Vinh Thanh (Vinh Thanh district) and Nhon Binh (Quy Nhon city). The improvement progress of the subcomponents is being pushed up.
For Component D - support to project management and institutional strengthening has also performed with many activities, such as procurement of office equipment; send staffs to attend training courses and study tours...
It is known that during the implementation, many difficulties and problems arise. You can tell us more about this problem?
Natural conditions in Binh Dinh are not favorable for the implementation of project components; production area of farmers households are not large; agricultural farms and agri-business aren’t in large quantity but small scale; research, technology transfer facilities in the province are too scarce and at small scale.
In addition, the coordination with local and other relevant units in sector to implement the proposed research topics, the proposed establishment productive partnerships and implement a compensation plan and clearance for projects for rural infrastructure schemes is not strictly. Some localities can’t arrange capital for the project, affecting overall progress of the project.
What solutions does the PMU have to solve the problems and implement the project effectively?
We have been implementing more concrete measures to implement this project effectively.
For component A, besides the topics as in 2010, we continue to organize workshops as way to identify and select new ideas, suggestions from the farmers, asking for the approval of the ministry the sponsor.
For the component B, the PMU continues to monitor and guide the productive partnerships to ensure their efficient operations in accordance with the provisions of the project.
For the component C, the PMU tries to finish the sub-projects on infrastructure improvement: upgrading and renovating irrigation canal of Hoi Khanh reservoir at My Hoa commune, Phu My district; upgrading rural roads and irrigation canal for the sugar cane production area at Nhon Tho commune, An Nhon district; upgrading and renovating N1 irrigation canal of Thuan Nghia pumping station at Phu Phong town, Tay Son district; upgrading Binh Lam irrigation canal at Phuoc Hoa commune, Tuy Phuoc district, etc.
In addition, we continue to implement plans for improving management capacity and institutional strengthening to fulfill the project’s targets in 2011, considering them as premises for achievement of the project’s goals in following years.
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