The third quarter of 2021 is the first quarter to witness the sharpest decline in the national economy in the past two decades due to the impact of the fourth Covid-19 wave. In that context, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector has shown its role as a pedestal of the economy, not only ensuring food for the people of the country during social distancing but also promoting food safety export.

Agriculture remains resilient during the pandemic

According to the General Statistics Office, in 9 months, the GDP of the agriculture, forestry and fishery industry increased by 2.74%, contributing 23.52% to the growth of the whole economy and currently accounting for 12.79% of the total GDP structure of our entire economy. In which, the GDP of the agricultural sector increased by 3.32%, the forestry sector increased by 3.3%; seafood increased by 0.66%.

CROPS PRODUCTION AMOUNT ARE INCREASED

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, thanks to favorable weather and the planting of new rice varieties with high economic value gradually replacing traditional rice varieties, this year’s winter-spring rice production reached 20.63 million tons, an increase of 755.1 thousand tons compared to the winter-spring crop in 2020. For the summer-autumn rice crop, thanks to the increased planting area and yield compared to the previous summer-autumn crop, the overall output of the whole crop reached 11.03 million tons, an increase of 282.7 thousand tons.

GDP growth by sector

The yield of many industrial crops in 9 months increased due to favorable weather this year, and crops were not affected by drought.

In the third quarter, the newly concentrated planted forest area nationwide reached 65.8 thousand hectares, up 2.3% over the same period last year; timber production reached 4,643.6 thousand m3, up 2.0%. Generally, for 9 months, the newly concentrated planted forest area reached 176.2 thousand ha, up 2.8% over the same period last year; timber production reached 12,589.2 thousand m3, an increase of 4.3%. Harvested output of most fruit trees increased over the same period last year: mango reached 801.1 thousand tons, an increase of 6.7 %; dragon fruit reached 1,030.5 thousand tons, up 1.7%; oranges reached 689.7 thousand tons, up 3.8%; pomelo reached 511.3 thousand tons, up 6.1%; bananas reached 1,779.2 thousand tons, up 2.6%; longan reached 544.4 thousand tons, up 7.8%.

STRIVING FOR Q4 GROWTH GET 3.2%

The fishery output harvested in the third quarter was estimated at 2,281.4 thousand tons, down 5.2% over the same period last year. It is estimated that in the first 9 months, the fishery output will reach 6,377.3 thousand tons, down by 0.2% over the same period last year, including: fish 4,612.5 thousand tons, down 1.2%; shrimp reached 810 thousand tons, up 3.4%; other aquatic products reached 954.8 thousand tons, up 1.5%.

In the first 9 months, aquaculture production reached 3,320.1 thousand tons, down 1.0% over the same period last year, of which: fish reached 2,224.1 thousand tons, down 3.1%; shrimp reached 699.8 thousand tons, up 4.3%; other aquatic products reached 396.2 thousand tons, up 1.9%.

Pangasius prices have been continuously at a low level since the end of 2019 until now, ranging from 20-22 thousand VND/kg, causing farmers to reduce their farming scale. The implementation of social distancing hindered production, pangasius processing enterprises stopped or reduced their operating capacity, so pangasius production decreased sharply. The output of pangasius in 9 months was estimated at 987.4 thousand tons, down 9.5% over the same period last year (315.3 thousand tons in the third quarter, down 19.8%).

The harvest of farmed shrimp dropped sharply in the quarter mainly due to the reduction in shrimp purchase by processing plants, the suspension of operations, reduced capacity, or difficulties in purchasing. Accumulating 9 months, the output of black tiger shrimp reached 196.6 thousand tons, up 1.9% over the same period last year; white leg shrimp production reached 462.2 thousand tons, up 5.5%.

Since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has set a goal to strive for, in 2021, the GDP growth rate of the whole industry will reach 3 – 3.2%, the production value of the whole industry will increase from 3.2 – 3.5%; The total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products for the whole year is about 45 billion USD.

Mr. Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that due to the characteristics of agro-forestry-fishery production, it is often seasonal, the time of cultivation, husbandry and aquaculture is from 3 to 6 months (depending on the subject of cultivation), so the production stage decreased slightly in the last 3rd quarter. However, the damage during the time of social distancing mainly affects the processing and consumption of agricultural products.

To achieve the full-year targets, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to restructure agriculture in association with transforming growth models. Each commodity industry will have to flexibly adjust production plans, improve productivity, quality of agricultural products and production and business efficiency.