Vol. 19 No. 10 (2021)

Winter melon production has contributed to improving livelihoods for many farmers in Ky Son district, Hoa Binh province, but production remain weakness. The study aims to assess the current situation and the factors affecting the value chain of wintermelon to propose solutions to develop the value chain of winter melon in the district. The study used secondary data in combination with secondary data. Primary data was gathered through the survey with 120 actors in value chains of winter melon including farm households,collectors, wholesalers, retailers and local leaders in 2018. The research results have shown that the value chain of winter melon in the district operates mainly through 3 main market channels. Farmers are the agents that create the highest value added in the value chain, followed by wholesale and retail actors. The study also pointed out a number of factors affecting the development of winter melon production value chain in the district, including market, policy institutions, natural conditions, the level of actors in the chain, and infrastructure and technology and proposing solutions to improve the value chain of winter melon in Ky Son district in the coming time.

Chuong My district is one of the key poultry farming production areas of Hanoi. Broiler production is well developed, however, focuses on small-holder farmers and fragmented in residential areas with poor linkage between production and consumption. This study aims to develop broiler production in Chuong My district towards quality and environmental protection. This study used both primary and secondary data, which primary data were collected through interview with146 broiler small-holder farmers including 126 traditional farmers and 20 non-traditional farmers. Statistical methods were applied in this study. Our results indicate that broiler production is a significant income source for most farmers. Farmers who applying new technologies in broiler production had advantages in both production and market as compared to the traditional group. To develop broiler production towards quality and environmental protection, farmers should apply advanced process.

Economic linkages between farmers and enterprises can bring benefits to both sides: farmers can avoid the situation of “good harvest and falling price”, while enterprises are able to stabilize raw materials for processing. The article aimed to point out the benefits and shortcomings in economic linkages between enterprises and farmers in the production and marketing medicinal herbs, thereby proposing solutions to improve the efficiency in the linkage between enterprises and farmers. In addition to secondary information, primary data were collected from two enterprises, one cooperative and100 farmers involved in linkage and 30 farmerss not involved in linkage with enterpirse. The results showed that economic linkage brought benefits to both businesses and farmers. However, the linkage between farmers and enterprises in Hai Hau district revealed many shortcomings such as low level of household awareness, small production scale and fragmentation and lack of infrastructure … In order to further promote linkage, the solutions proposed are following: i) Improving farmers' awareness of the role of linkages in the supply of raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry; ii) Strengthening support from enterprises for farmers in production techniques and production inputs; iii) Implementing mechanisms and policies by local authorities in order to attract more enterprises to invest in production, purchasing and processing of medicinal herbs in the district.

Buffalo fattening is a new livelihood model for ethnic minority farmers and tends to develop in some northern border provinces. During the outbreak of Covid-19, the trade in the border areas between Vietnam and China has become difficult since 2020. Is this farming model feasible, especially for disadvantaged groups such as the poor, ethnic minorities? This study used a participatory approach combined with rapid market assessment, financial efficiency analysis and risk analysis tools. The research results showed that this livelihood model is feasible and brings promissing income to farmers even during the current difficult period caused by Covid-19.

Many provinceshave completed the new rural development programand continuedto maintain and improve the quality of criteria in the program. However, maintaining the new rural criteria is still difficultdue to several reasons. This study assessedthe current situationand the results ofmaintaining new rural development programin Phu Tho province during2010-2020period. The study useda participatory approach to gather information and compared the results by the criteria and the periods. Based on the survey results, the study proposedsomerecommendations to continue maintaining and improving the criteria quality ofthe new rural development program in Phu Tho province.

The suburban area of Hanoi has advantages for the development of agricultural production, particularly beef products, due to its vicinity to the large market and diverse customer segments. The present study analyzed the beef cattle value chain in Chuong My district using interview data with actors involed in the chain in 2020. The findings showed that the beef cattle value chain in the district operated on a small-scale basis with actors across various stages of production, collection, slaughtering, wholesale, and retail, in which farmers contributed the most in the total value-added production. The chain operations were financially efficient and generated significant income for medium and large-scale producers. However, restricted by its weaknesses of being small-scale, low livestock productivity, informal linkages between actors, Chuong My district beef cattle value chain has been competing with beef product chains from not only other suburban districts in Hanoi and other provinces but also chains of imported products. To overcome these challenges, some solutions were proposed to upgrade the beef cattle value chain in Chuong My district in the future.

Migrant workers are one of the people groups most vulnerable and affected by the Covid-19Pandemic. Measuring the impact of the Covid-19pandemic on migrant workers' employment and well-being was the goal of this study. A survey of 114 migrant workers living in Hoan Son commune, Tien Du district, Bac Ninh province showed that 70% of workers were affected due to job loss or job reduction, 86% suffered income reduction and reduced spending or change of the living condition. The study showed that the migrant worker group, although heavily affected by the pandemic, did not received enough relief from the VND62,000 billion package as well as the attention of the local government. The solutions to minimize the negative impact of the Covid-19pandemic on migrant workers are to control well the pandemic and simplify the conditions and procedures for migrant workers to receiving the social security package. The local government needs to pay more attention to the migrant workers and the workers need to be proactive in adapting better by themselves.

Despite the limited quantity of full-time positions, cadres of socio-political organizations at district and commune levels are responsible for important duties in social management as well as production and business development. Thus, their quality needs to be improved to meet practical requirements. This study aimed to propose solutions to improve the quality of cadres of socio-political organizations in Nghia Dan district, Nghe An province and other districts with similar conditions. The main research methods used were descriptive statistics, comparative statistics and linear regression models. The research results showed that there were 6 factors which accounted for 79% of the change in the quality of cadres in socio-political organizations. The most significant influencing factors among these were professional qualifications, political-theory levels and the degree of regular training in professional and other fields relevant to their position and work. In order to improve the quality of cadres, it is necessary to implement various solutions such as improving their professional qualifications, political-theory levels, regular training and income improvement.

The aim of the study was to assess the current situation of implementing poverty reduction solutions, thereby proposing solutions to improve sustainability in sustainable poverty reduction in Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province. The study used descriptive and comparative statistics methods to analyze the situation of implementing sustainable poverty reduction solutions. Primary data were collected from 100 poor ethnic minority households in 16 communes and 20 staff members of the district and communes. Results showed that the poverty reduction programs have contributed to reducing the poverty rate in the district by 4.97% each year butnot ensured sustainability, and the rate of re-poverty was still high. The study proposed several solutions to overcome the difficulties in the process of implementing sustainable poverty reduction solutions. Among the solutions, effective capital use through the implimetaion of support mechanisms for the poor ethinic minority households to creat sustainable livelihoods needs to be paid attention.

This study attemptedto analyze offshore fishing activities of the households in Hoang Truong commune, Thanh Hoa province in the context of Covid-19pandemic. A household survey was conducted with40 offshore fishing households and 20 inshore fishing households. The resultsshowed that 87.5% of households reduced the number of fishing trips, the percentage of households selling aquatic products to traders was down to 50% as compared to more than 90% before the pandemic and no offshore households could supplyseafood for export during the pandemic. The causes of these impacts came from social distancing (or lockdown)and disruptions of the seafood supply chain domestically as well as globally. While the majority of surveyed fishermen (75%) tried not to reduce the average catch per trip, the price of seafood has decreased by more than 20%. This was the main reason why fishermen's income has been seriously affected. 40% of fishermen were responding by continuing off-shorefishing, 60% combining with near-shore fishing. This indicatesthat fishery capture is an important livelihood activity and difficult to replace even during the pandemic. Encouraging fishermen to have a reasonable combination with other economic activities,together with their organizations to link in fishing and consumption of seafood should be paid attention bylocal authorities.

The study aimed toanalyzethe factors that affect residential land prices and recommenda model for determining residential urban land price zone in Trau Quy town, Gia Lam district, Ha Noi city. Secondary data on land information were collected through a survey of129 land use owners having transactions in residential land.The main data analysis methods were multivariate linear regression model and spatial analysis. The research results showed that urban residential land prices in Trau Quy town were influenced by 9 factors, of which the type of contiguous road had the greatest influence on land prices, followed by the factors of distance to the market, distance to the people’s committee and distance to school. The study also grouped the town's urban residential land into 5 zones, with the lowest land price of less than VND26 millionper square metter and the zone with a very high land price over VND63 million per square metter.

This paper analyzed tourists’ preferences for ecotourism products associated with Biodiversity Conservation in Bavi National Park to support the decision-makers in ecotourism development process. Choice experiments were employed to examine the preferences of 180 tourists for the attributes of ecotourism products associated with Biodiversity Conservation and to estimate their willingness to pay for these ecotourism attributes. Using a Conditional Logit Model, the research results indicated that tourists had a preference for ecotourism products with all attributes except for visiting without exploiting traditional medicinal plants of the Dao ethnic minority.The tourist’s marginal willingness to donate to biodiversity conservation at VND5000 /time was VND100.7 thousand. The study also revealed that tourists were willing to donate for biodiversity conservation activities even higher than donation level suggested by the Park.

This study aimed to summarize, draw out experience and recommend solutions to scale up the model of agricultural cooperatives applying high technology in agriculture. Information and data were collected from in-depth interviews and group discussions with managers and members of the cooperatives in the provinces of Bac Giang, Ha Noi and Long An. Experience summary showed that the following are required to successfully apply high technology in agriculture: i) cooperatives need to be formed and operated based on the needs and interests of their members, ii) there should be breakthrough in production and business mindset, development strategies and plans in place should be in line with the emerging trends around the world, iii) there should be determination, strong will, perseverance and consensus of both the management board and all of the members, iv) appropriate technology should be selected, piloted, replicated and scaled up, particularly for the common assets of cooperatives, v) diverse and flexible form of linkage, and vi) it is necessary to get support of regulatory bodies and professional institutions and organizations.

This paper aimed to review theoretical and practical issues on promoting the high-tech application in agricultural production in Vietnam, thereby to point out the challenges and to recommend some measures for enhancing the high-tech application in agricultural production in Vietnam in the coming time. Based on secondary information and data from published papers and documents, the study showed the high-tech application in agricultural production is an inevitable way for agricultural sector development in Vietnam under the context of global integration and impacts of the industry revolution 4.0. Promoting the high-tech application in agricultural production is thus highly paid attention by Vietnamese government in recent years. Despite the remarkable achievements, the number of enterprises and farm households that have applied high technologies in agricultural production is still modest, and development of high-tech agriculture in Vietnam still faces with many challenges. For enhancing the high-tech application in agriculural production in Vietnam, improving the current policy system is of high necessity. In addition, implementation of high-tech agriculture development planning, human training and credit supports for as well as the proganda on efficiency of the high-tech application in agricultural production should be reinforced in the coming time.