Lai Chau agriculture needs four major transformations

Concluding the conference on “Developing commodity agriculture and medicinal plants towards a green, sustainable economy” on the morning of April 24, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri stressed that Lai Chau must strongly shift from an agricultural production mindset to an agricultural economic mindset, taking commodity agriculture, specialty products, and medicinal plants under forest canopy as new growth drivers for the locality in the coming period.

Deputy Minister Tri noted that Lai Chau possesses outstanding potential in land, climate, forests, ecological landscapes, biodiversity, and cultural identity for developing commodity agriculture associated with highland specialties, as well as medicinal plants linked to indigenous knowledge. However, potential will remain untapped if it is not organized into products, raw material areas, value chains, brands, and stable income for people.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri, in the current context, the market not only requires more agricultural products but also cleaner, greener ones that meet requirements for traceability, quality standards, and environmental responsibility. For medicinal plants, requirements for origin, processing, branding, and sustainability are even higher. Without proper preparation from the outset, localities may easily fall into fragmented, low-efficiency, and unstable development.

Deputy Minister Tri appreciated the participation of ministries, central agencies, experts, scientists, and businesses at the conference, reflecting an approach grounded in science, practice, and the market rather than in spontaneous or emotional development.

At the conference, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri highlighted three major issues for Lai Chau’s development orientation in the coming time.

First, developing commodity agriculture and green medicinal plants is not only a requirement for restructuring the agricultural sector but also a driving force for achieving high growth, including double-digit growth. Under Lai Chau’s conditions, commodity agriculture and medicinal plants under forest canopy still have great potential to create new value.

“When concentrated commodity production areas are organized, value chains are built, deep processing is promoted, brands are developed, and markets are expanded, agriculture will not only create output but also generate higher added value, better income, and more stable revenue,” he emphasized.

In particular, developing medicinal plants under forest canopy will not only create livelihoods for people but also open up a high-value economic sector associated with forest protection, environmental protection, and the promotion of ecological advantages.

Regarding commodity agriculture, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri suggested that Lai Chau focus on products with clear advantages rather than spread resources thinly. Priority should be given to high-quality tea, specialty rice, macadamia in suitable areas, cold-water fish, cage fish in reservoirs, and other unique highland agricultural products.

He pointed out that major bottlenecks in Lai Chau’s agriculture include small-scale production, insufficiently large raw-material areas, weak linkages among farmers, cooperatives, and enterprises, while deep processing, preservation, logistics, traceability, and digital transformation remain underdeveloped.

To address these limitations, he proposed reorganizing production by ecological sub-regions and key commodities, building substantive value chains with enterprises playing a leading role, taking processing, preservation, and branding as breakthrough areas, and ensuring that agricultural development goes hand in hand with protecting land, water, forests, and the environment.

In the medicinal plant sector, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri noted that it could become a distinctive development direction for Lai Chau, thanks to favorable conditions such as altitude, diverse climates, extensive forest cover, rich genetic resources, and traditional knowledge of medicinal plant use.

However, he cautioned against developing medicinal plants in a spontaneous manner, expanding at all costs, or sacrificing forests for cultivation. Medicinal plants must be developed “under forest canopy, with planning, standards, enterprise leadership, quality control, branding, and mechanisms ensuring real benefits for local people.”

He also recommended clearly identifying strategic medicinal plant species and key development areas; building synchronized value chains from breeding, cultivation, care, preliminary processing, and processing to consumption; strengthening quality control; and developing product brands. At the same time, development should be linked with ecotourism, experiential tourism, and healthcare services to create integrated value.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri emphasized that Lai Chau needs to implement four major transformations: from production to economic thinking, from fragmentation to linkage, from raw sales to processing, and from potential to real value.

If these directions are effectively implemented, Lai Chau will not only improve people’s income and protect forest resources but can also become a bright spot in the Northern Midlands and Mountainous region in developing green, sustainable commodity agriculture and medicinal plants.