HCM CITY — The average annual income of residents in HCM City’s Củ Chi District has increased to more than VNĐ46 million (US$2,000) per capita, up 1.14 times against 2015, according to Lê Đình Đức, deputy chairman of the district’s People’s Committee.

Speaking at a seminar held in Củ Chi on Tuesday to review the “new-style rural areas” in the 2016-17 period, he said the rate of poor and near-poor households had fallen to 2.99 per cent and 5.09 per cent, respectively.

The programme to build new-style rural areas includes new production models in agriculture, fisheries and forestry fields that meet market demand, he said.

Farmers are making high profits off milk cows, ornamental plants, ornamental fish and clean vegetables.

The district’s communes have met from seven to 12 of the 19 criteria set under the national target programme for new-style rural areas.

The regulations deal with infrastructure, production, environmental protection, social security and other areas. 

In the 206-17 period, the district mobilised VNĐ4 trillion ($176 million) from various sources. 

As many as 85,744 houses meet the standards of the Ministry of Construction, accounting for 98 per cent of the district’s houses.

Tất Thành Cang, permanent deputy secretary of the city’s Party Committee, said the district should focus on milk cows, ornamental plants and fish, clean vegetables and high-tech agricultural models.

The district should also support modern agricultural co-operatives, he said.

To meet the 2020 target of becoming the city’s first district that fulfils the 19 criteria of new-style rural areas, all agencies and units of the district’s government should focus on the programme.

Restructuring

Under instructions from the district’s People’s Committee, local farmers in recent years have turned their ineffective paddy fields to other high-value crops and animals.

The production value of farmland in the district totals VNĐ360 million ($15,800) per ha, according to the district’s People’s Committee.

The district has more than 9,500ha devoted to growing vegetables. Of the figure, 2,080ha are planted under Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).

The district’s People’s Committee has worked with the city’s Agricultural High-tech Park in Củ Chi to provide models of high-tech farming, including growing honeydew melon, cherry tomato and leaf vegetables in net houses.

However, agricultural production still faces pollution and unstable outlets for sales of agricultural products.

The district’s People’s Committee has restructured activities related to breeding oxen and pigs, increasing the scale and quality, reducing home-based breeding and protecting the environment.

In Củ Chi, farmland accounts for 70 per cent of the district’s total area. — VNS