Abandoned farmland: [7] Hai Phong's experience

Addressing the bottleneck in land accumulation

After years of grappling with abandoned farmland, Hai Phong City has introduced a solution through two resolutions: Resolution No. 51/2025 and Resolution No. 27/2025. These are not merely financial support measures but also represent a "revolution" in thinking, shifting from conventional agricultural production toward large-scale agricultural economics.

Bài liên quan

Abandoned farmland: [6] Unlocking economic value of idle fields

Resolution No. 51 provides support of VND 10 million/ha for land rental; 30% of the value of machinery, capped at VND 200 million/machine; and VND 5-15 million/ha for VietGAP and organic certification. This solution reduces production costs, promotes synchronized mechanization, and develops large-scale, concentrated commodity agriculture.

Resolution No. 51 directly addresses this critical bottleneck through a policy supporting land rental for large-scale agricultural production. The city provides a one-time support of VND 10 million/ha of concentrated farmland, with a minimum scale of 5 ha, contiguous plots, and a minimum lease term of three years. This policy is likened to a “lifeline,” reducing initial risks for farmers who sign land accumulation contracts and laying the groundwork for synchronized mechanization.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of the Hai Phong Large-Scale Farmers Club, said that despite their strong commitment to farming, many large-scale farmers have become hesitant as input costs have surged recently while rice prices remain volatile. With Resolution No. 51 providing 30% support toward the cost of new machinery, members are encouraged and actively share resources, from rice transplanters to pesticide-spraying drones, helping to eliminate manual labor entirely and promote a modern agricultural ecosystem.

Bài liên quan

Abandoned farmland: [5] Businesses face difficulties in production linkages

It is the city’s support policy that has enabled large-scale farmers such as Mr. Nguyen Xuan Giang in Vinh Hai Commune to realize their dream of large-scale agricultural production. Having accumulated farmland since 2019, he now manages more than 60 mau of fields (0.36 ha/mau). To ensure operations, he has invested more than VND 3 billion in machinery, most of it financed through loans, placing him under considerable interest-payment pressure.

Recently, Mr. Giang invested VND 670 million in a Kubota DC70 combine harvester and was approved for VND 190 million in support under Resolution No. 51. "Without the State's support, no one would dare risk investing billions of dong in farmland. The policy has helped ease the capital burden and motivated us to reorganize abandoned land into modern production areas, replacing manual labor with technology," Mr. Giang shared.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quyet, Standing Vice Chairman of the Kien Hai Commune People’s Committee, said the locality currently has thousands of ha of agricultural land, but only around 300 ha are actually used for rice growing, while nearly 300 ha have been left fallow.

Implementing Resolution No. 51 and Resolution No. 27, Kien Hai commune reviewed and inspected each field area before developing detailed plans and clearly defining planning boundaries. Areas designated for long-term industrial projects are oriented toward short-term agricultural production to keep the land in use, while areas zoned for long-term agricultural development are directed toward high-tech farming, high-quality rice production, or sustainable aquaculture. To address farmers' concerns about losing their land when consolidating farmland, the commune-level People’s Committee has acted as a bridge between businesses and local residents, with transparent commitments in place.

"We set a very reasonable rental rate at around VND 200,000/sao/year (360 m²/sao) for a five-year lease. Most importantly, we map the entire existing land status before handing the land over to businesses. Companies are allowed to remove field boundaries to facilitate machinery operations, but they must retain the original site plan and are required to make a security deposit. When they eventually withdraw, if they fail to honor their commitments, the deposit will provide farmers with the funds needed to restore the land to its original condition. Once their interests are secured, farmers are immediately willing to support the arrangement," Mr. Quyet explained.

Thanks to a transparent approach and streamlined procedures, the commune has successfully implemented a 30-hectare land accumulation model in Doan Xa village for export-oriented chili production. Other villages are also actively mobilizing farmers to register additional dozens of hectares for banana, lotus, and high-quality rice-growing models.

Reviving "dead land," removing legal bottlenecks

In reality, although policies have been opened up, barriers stemming from traditional farming practices remain. Large-scale farmer Nguyen Xuan Giang in Vinh Hai Commune acknowledged that more than 60 mau of farmland he cultivates is largely based on informal verbal arrangements with local farmers. Concerned about losing their land in the long term, farmers are reluctant to sign formal documents, making it difficult to meet the 3-year land-lease requirement to receive VND 10 million/ha in support. The fragmented cultivation also makes pest management increasingly challenging.

To address this issue, Resolution No. 27 focuses on protecting soil by providing VND 10 million/ha to rehabilitate low-lying, acid sulfate, saline, or abandoned farmland left unused for more than 12 months. This support helps farmers revive degraded fields. At the same time, Hai Phong provides VND 1 million/ha/crop for high-quality rice varieties, aiming to achieve uniform production for supply to supermarkets and export markets.

A key breakthrough of Resolution No. 27 is allocating 50% of the support funding directly to commune-level budgets. This gives local authorities resources to help farmers purchase seeds, receive technical training, and manage rice straw directly in the fields. When commune authorities have concrete plans for land rehabilitation, farmers are more willing to lease their land to large-scale farmers or participate in production linkages.

Ms. Luong Thi Kiem, Deputy Director of the Hai Phong Department of Agriculture and Environment, affirmed that the core objective of the resolutions is to create a sustainable economic ecosystem. The city has high expectations for transforming the rural landscape. With better infrastructure, standardized farming techniques, and modern machinery being brought into production, farmers will become technology managers on their own fields.

"The city has high expectations for transforming the rural landscape through these support packages, including funding for periodic soil quality assessments every five years and funding for the maintenance of infrastructure serving rice production," Ms. Kiem said.

The introduction of Resolutions No. 51 and No. 27 is not simply about providing financial support but represents a systematic strategy to restructure the agricultural sector in the context of strong industrialization. Hai Phong is striving to transform traditional farmers into business owners on their own farmland.

During the 2020-2025 period, localities in western Hai Phong (formerly Hai Duong Province) issued Resolution No. 14/2023/NQ-HDND on policies supporting the development of concentrated commodity agriculture and the application of high technology, helping address the problem of abandoned farmland. After five years, the area of abandoned farmland in the former Hai Duong Province had almost disappeared, except for some small, fragmented plots.

$1 = VND 26,380 - Source: Vietcombank.