By Tố Như

BÌNH THUẬN – Building new-style rural areas is a non-stop journey, so each countryside area becomes richer and more beautiful and civilised.

The central coastal province of Bình Thuận has continued to promote implementation of the National Targeted Program on New Rural Development in the period 2021-25 with an aim to create stronger development steps to further increase the role of a "gateway" connecting key economic regions in southern provinces.

Currently, Bình Thuận Province reaches one of the highest rates nationally of communes meeting rural standards of 77.42 per cent, equivalent to 72 out of 93 communes, of which one commune (Trà Tân Commune in Đức Linh District) meets the advanced new-style rural standard and two districts of Phú Quý and Đức Linh meet the new-style rural standard.

In the development period to 2025 and 2030, with a vision to 2045, Bình Thuận Province has determined that agriculture, farmers and rural areas continue to have an important strategic position in the socio-economic development process, in which agricultural development is the key task, building new-style rural areas is fundamental, and farmers play the main role.

The province strives that by 2025, 75 out of 93 communes and 5 out of 10 districts will meet new-style rural standards, and have 10 model new rural communes.

Phú Lạc Commune of Tuy Phong District, Bình Thuận Province is one of the communes meeting the new rural standards. VNS Photo Tố Như

By 2030, the province will have total 93 communes and seven out of 10 districts meeting new-style rural standards, including 25 model new-style rural communes.

The province also sets a target by 2025 and 2030 to basically eliminate poverty (except for poor households covered by social protection policies), minimise returns to poverty and significantly improve the living standards of rural people.

The average income in rural areas will be more than twice that of 2020.

According to the deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and chief of the Provincial Coordination Office of the the National Targeted Program on New Rural Development, Nguyễn Hữu Phước, in order to achieve the goal, the province continues to push investment promotion in agriculture and rural areas, and high technology application.

The province focuses on reviewing, supplementing and amending investment processes and procedures in agriculture and rural areas associated with administrative procedure reform, continue to concretise and implement a number of policies to attract agricultural development and encourage enterprises to invest in the development of agricultural and rural areas, Phước said.

All levels and sectors promote information dissemination on new rural development in the 2021-2025 period associated with the campaign of all people uniting to build new-style rural areas and civilised cities, and implement the OCOP programme (One commune, one product) combined with strengthening branding and improving agricultural product quality to facilitate the consumption of agricultural products and specialties of Bình Thuận Province.

Regarding production development associated with local strengths, director of the provincial Rural Development Department Ngô Minh Trang said that contributing to the implementation of the National Targeted Program on New Rural Development, Bình Thuận Province is enhancing the implementation of the OCOP programme, especially promoting and introducing 70 recognised OCOP products, and further facilitating product consumption and increasing income for local farmers in the province.

In early last year, the province put into operation two shops of OCOP product introduction and sales to attract local consumers and tourists.

The provincial leader said that the province is implementing a plan to restructure agriculture, forestry, fishery and salt industries in the direction of strongly shifting thinking from agricultural production to agricultural economic development, from traditional agricultural production focusing on output to producing, processing and providing quality, clean and safe products and high economic value agricultural services associated with market development and the advantages of agricultural products.

At the same time, the province promotes the application of high technology and organic production combined with production, processing and consumption along the value chain and ecological environment protection.

Regarding agricultural and rural economic development, raising added value for agricultural products, and rapid increase of income for rural people, the province continues to develop hi-tech agriculture adapting climate change.

The province also focusses on developing rural tourism associated with agricultural production aimed at creating new progress for the province’s new-style rural area.

With the characteristics of large area of ​​agricultural land, and diverse climate and soil types from the coastal plain to the highlands adjacent to the plateau, the province will develop a variety of crops adapting to dry conditions such as vegetables, medicinal plants and drought-tolerant tropical fruit trees.

To serve the local consumer market and gradually associate with tourism development, highland areas such as Bắc Bình, Tánh Linh, Đức Linh and Hàm Thuận Bắc districts develop orchards and industrial crops to establish agricultural and eco-tourism destinations contributing to creating added value for agricultural products, promoting agricultural economic development, sustainable rural development and further improving the lives of rural people in the province. — VNS