Entangled because 9,000 establishments 'pawn' land use right certificate

Thousands of ‘red notebooks’ are at the bank

According to the statistics of Kien Giang Sub-Department of Fisheries, out of nearly 35,000 establishments that are required to register for mariculture establishment codes, there are nearly 9,000 establishments in operation mortgaging the certificate of land use right (referred to as “red notebook” in Vietnamese) to get bank loans. This Is considered a big barrier which slows down the plan to grant the farming area code in accordance with the provisions of the 2017 Law on Fisheries.

Mr. Kim Hoang Thanh, Director of the Kien Giang Sub-Department of Fisheries, said that the work of issuing identification codes for brackish water shrimp farming establishments in the districts was still slow and had not been completed according to the plan due to certain difficulties.

Statistics from localities show that the province has nearly 9,000 establishments (shrimp farming households) that have not been granted mariculture establishment codes. Nearly 8,770 establishments are waiting for bank branches and credit institutions to provide copies of land use right certificates to carry out the procedures, and 391 establishments do not comply with the issuance of codes.

In the case of An Minh district, nearly 50% of establishments are not eligible or are mortgaging “red notebooks” for bank loans, so they have not been able to be granted shrimp farming establishment codes.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dien, Deputy Head of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Minh district said, "According to statistics, there are nearly 16,000 households in the whole district that need to be issued identification codes for brackish water shrimp farming. However, the number of households not eligible to issue identification codes of brackish water shrimp farming is more than 3,400. The number of households borrowing bank loans after mortgaging their land use right certificates is nearly 3,990. In addition, there were 135 cases of non-compliance with code issuance".

Most shrimp farming households have used land use right certificates as collateral for banks and credit institutions to borrow capital for production, so it is difficult to add them to the registration procedure. Some households are not well-aware of the importance of having identification codes for brackish water shrimp farms, which poses a problem for implementation.

The land is in one place, the land owner is in another

Another barrier makes things difficult or even impossible for Kien Giang to issue mariculture establishment codes. There are lands without land use right certificates, disputed land, or invaded land (people grow crops on land that do not belong to them). Another example is that the land is rented. The shrimp farmer is not the owner of the land, and there is no way to contact the real land owner. According to statistics, Kien Giang has more than 7,600 establishments that are not eligible for mariculture establishment codes because of the above reasons.

According to information from the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hon Dat district (Kien Giang), the total number of shrimp farming households is now 485, located in 7 coastal communes and towns. Through the review, up to 211 farming households are unable to issue identification codes for shrimp farms because they did not have land use right certificates. There are 43 shrimp farming households in My Lam, Binh Son and Soc Son communes not eligible for code issuance because they are not located in the aquaculture development planning area.

The Office of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hon Dat district has set a key task. From now until the end of 2023, the local agricultural sector will coordinate with the People's Committees of communes to grant more identification codes for brackish water shrimp farming to 56 households, including 23 households in Binh Giang commune, 15 in Binh Son, 12 in Tho Son, and 6 in Linh Huynh. The remaining 23 households will be issued codes in 2024 because they have not completed the land use right certificates.