Despite natural disasters, epidemics and fluctuations in the global market, the GDP growth rate of the agricultural sector in 2024 reached 3.3 percent, higher than the target.

The total export turnover of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products reached $62.5 billion, representing an 18.5 percent increase compared to 2023 (+ $9.3 billion). The agricultural sector witnessed a trade surplus of $17.9 billion, or 72 percent of the total trade surplus of the national economy.

Numerous agricultural products such as coffee, rice, cashews, pepper, fruits, vegetables, and wood products set export records. Farmers experienced bountiful harvests, earning billions of dong from their fields and farms.

Commenting about the figures, Hoan, after visiting various localities, noted "agricultural economics is starting to take root in society. Farmers understand the need to make products based on market demand-supply signs."

Meanwhile, local authorities not only direct production, but also help farmers connect with markets through trade fairs and festivals. In 2024, many localities, from Son La and Hung Yen to Hai Duong and the Central Highlands, all proactively sought and expanded markets for their products.

Hoan said that previously, the government encouraged farmers to produce as much as possible. However, a problem arose that farmers did not know where to sell the products. Therefore, he believes that taking initiative in connecting markets is an important factor to settle bottlenecks in the agricultural sector.

Vietnamese farmers now understand that different markets have different characteristics. Each market sets its own standards and technical barriers, so farmers need information about every market. The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Industry and Trade (MOIT) have provided such information to farmers.

“It is obvious that market-based production thinking has gradually formed, Hoan commented. “Market-based production means making products that the market needs, not the products farmers want to make."

Unlocking new value of products

Statistics show that the agricultural sector's growth rate has far exceeded the target set for the 2021-2025 tenure. Fruit and vegetable exports have exceeded $7 billion, higher than the target of $6.5 billion by 2030.

However, Hoan pointed out that Vietnam’s farm produce are mostly exported raw, which means that the agricultural sector is still at the lowest level of the value chain.

Farmers have been doing well in increasing output to increase earnings. But output will become critical one day and earnings won’t increase further.

It is necessary for the agricultural sector to seek new ways to increase the value of farm produce. And circular agriculture is one of the methods.

In rice cultivation, for example, Vietnam not only can earn money from selling and exporting rice grains, but also from husks, stems, and leaves. Under the circular production model, these items can be used to cultivate mushrooms, create biomass energy pellets, or produce organic fertilizer. 

Mekong Delta farmers have begun implementing these practices and have gained promising results.

For coffee, people have long focused on selling the beans to make a kind of fragrant drink. However, coffee beans just account for 2 percent of value, while the other 98 percent are discarded. The discarded things turn out to be very useful. Coffee grounds can be repurposed as a growing medium for hydroponic vegetables, fertilizer, and even cosmetics, while coffee husks can be made into premium tea.

Many countries have applied circular principle to coffee grounds, using them to grow mushrooms and then turning the remaining by-products from mushroom harvesting into animal feed.

Instead of discarding waste and incurring additional costs for environmental protection, farmers can adopt the circular production principle, where nothing is thrown away.

That is one of the reasons why MARD has signed a protocol on exporting frozen durian to China. This increases the proportion of processed products, which are 10 or 100 times more valuable than the value farmers are looking for.

According to Hoan, the amount of agricultural land is going to shrink as a result of urbanization and industrialization. The farm produce output is increasing, but will become critical one day. Therefore, cooperating with other countries to develop agriculture is a necessity.

Noting that modern agricultural production must not be restricted by administrative boundaries, Hoan suggested cooperating with Laos, Cambodia and African countries to develop farming.

Tam An