Following a rumour that the State
was considering reallocating agricultural land to farmers in 2013, experts and
ordinary people talked with Khoa hoc & Doi song (Science&Life) newspaper about
efforts to ensure enough land for farming

* Tran Van Lam,
member of Viet Nam Farmers’ Association’s standing committee: Land Law needs to
be amended

In my opinion,
priority is being given to building industrial zones and billion dollar foreign
invested entertainment projects. Land allocated to agriculture has shrunk, as a
result.

It is also irrational
that many agricultural land plots which were due compensation have been changed
to residential use. By this sleight of hand their value is markedly different as
a matter of course. We must revise the Land Law with a view to not only
re-allocating agricultural land for farmers but also to making it tune with the
present situation as the law was issued nearly 20 years ago. But I have
encountered many objections and disagreements among farmers when discussing
agricultural land reallocation.

* Le Si Hai, HCM
City’s Van Hien University’s social studies faculty: There will be problems with
the procedures

From a sociological
point of view, I think reallocating agricultural land will cause a major
disturbance among farmers, as agricultural land is their flesh and blood. More
is needed to be done to reclaim uncultivated land area and rent it to farmers
who are in need for a certain period of time. Many procedures will arise if
agricultural land is reallocated. Farmers will have to spend time on completing
these procedures, not to mention the possibility of negative outcomes leading to
unnecessary costs.

* Farmer Nguyen
Hung Ap Rang in HCM City’s Trung Lap Thuong Commune: The State should continue
to allot available land funds

My family has been
living here for nearly 30 years. In the past, our five-member family had only
one hectare of land to do farming. Then, we bought more land from farmers who
were no longer interested in doing farming. We have had about three hectares of
land at present and I will re-allocate them to my children after they get
married. I wonder if agricultural land will be reallocated evenly to farmers or
distributed to co-operatives as it was in the past. I myself do not want to
re-distribute my land on which I have planted rice, corn, beans and my family’s
lifestyle has been fairly stable. I also wonder whether compensation will be
appropriate, a farmer who has no land is like having a plough without a buffalo.

As far as I know the
State allocates land to organisations, family households and individuals for
long-term use. Land use rights for aquaculture are 20 years and 50 years for
cash crops plantations. I think the most effective thing to do so is for the
State to continue to allocate land to land users who obey the rules.

* Farmer Nguyen
Van Mao in HCM City’s Dong Lan hamlet: Will lazy, landless farmers be
re-allocated land despite having sold their original land?

I have been living
here for decades and possess two hectares of land which I inherited from my
parents. I know many families whose members inherited land, but they were lazy
so as they sold it all.

They are
getting poorer and will they be reallocated land only to sell it again? Like
other farmers, my land area may be less or may be more if the State
implements land reallocation. The move will cause disputes, unfairness and
negative results.

* Phan Phung
Sanh, standing committee member of HCM City’s Union of Science and Technology
Associations: Agricultural land area has decreased

Viet Nam is second
largest rice exporter in the world. This is a great success. But it is also
worrying in the long run because of climate change, sea water infiltration; the
use of agricultural land for industrial development purposes is reducing
available land.

It is
already clear that the aftermath of using agricultural land to build
golfentertainment projects has adversely affected farmers.
courses and

Many do not know what
to do with the compensation money after they sell their land to project
investors. It is a must to help people stabilise their lives after they’ve had
their land taken to build projects.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News