Agricultural sector with historical milestones
After gaining independence in 1945, the President signed Decree No. 41 dated October 3, 1945 on receiving the Department of Registration, Official Dispatch, Land Administration and Tax collection of the Indochina Governorate Department under the Ministry of Finance. This is an important milestone laying the foundation for the land management system of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Along with the process of building the country, the system of policies and laws on land has been gradually improved, reflecting the new management thinking of an independent country. In the early years after the August Revolution, the State issued many regulatory documents to reduce the burden on farmers and create conditions for agricultural production recovery such as the Decree "Exemption from land rent reduction", "Declaration and lending of colored rhineland", the Decree "Abusing land rent in rural areas", contributing to restoring production and affirming the view of taking farmers as a root in national economic development.
From 1945 to the country's reunification in 1975, land in the North, and then nationwide, was placed under the unified management of the State. The planning and planning mechanism focuses on the goal of rational, economical and efficient land use, ensuring land resources for agricultural production and socio-economic development. Land becomes a strategic resource, both a means of primary production and a tool for social justice. The State has issued many policies associated with the process of reforming land plots, building agricultural cooperatives, expanding land access for people, and gradually forming a socialist land management mechanism.
The land reform (1953-1956) in the North was a major turning point, completely implementing the slogan "plowers have fields", ending the centuries-long feudal land ownership regime, changing the ownership structure and transforming social relations in rural areas, creating new momentum for agricultural production. During the resistance war, agriculture played an important logistical role, ensuring food for the battlefield and for the people. The spirit of "no rice lacks one scale, no army lacks one person" demonstrates the combination of centralized production organization and the strength of solidarity of the farming community.
After 1975, the country was unified but the economy fell into a prolonged crisis, agricultural production stagnated, and food shortages were frequent. The State continues to maintain a mechanism of centralizing all levels in production management and operation through a system of cooperatives, state-owned agricultural and forestry farms. Land is allocated according to the plan, the products are mainly paid to the State, causing workers to lose motivation for creativity. Low productivity, farmers' lives are difficult, food shortages continue throughout the 1970s. In that situation, many localities have boldly experimented with more flexible production models, giving fields to households to cultivate and enjoy products under contracts, creating "illegal business" movements in many provinces in the Northern Delta.
Practical experiences from the grassroots have prompted the Central Government to consider policy innovation. In 1981, the Secretariat issued Directive 100/CT-TW, also known as "Consultation 100", allowing the licensing of products to the labor group and households. The policy marks a shift from administrative management thinking to giving autonomy to producers, opening a new direction for Vietnam's agriculture. "Khoa ban 100" has helped increase output rapidly, farmers' lives have improved significantly, becoming the premise for the next breakthrough.
In 1988, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW, implementing Resolution 10-NQ/TW on innovation of agricultural economic management issued by the Politburo on April 5, 1988, an important breakthrough when for the first time determining agricultural cooperatives as the management unit, members' households as autonomous economic units under contract with cooperatives, strongly freeing up production, restoring the trust of farmers and laying the foundation for reforming agricultural economic institutions in the renovation period.
From there, Vietnam's agriculture has shifted from a centralized supply model to a commodity production model, associated with the formation of a land market and a legal framework on land use rights. When the first Land Law was promulgated in 1987, Vietnam officially established a new legal framework for land management and use. The law has affirmed that land owned by the entire people is managed by the State, and at the same time stipulates the rights and obligations of land users, expands the scope of economic benefits of households, is the result of 40 years of formation and accumulation of policies and is the starting point for the process of perfecting land institutions in the renovation period.
Over the past eight decades, the history of Vietnam's agriculture has always been closely linked to the development history of the land management system. Each policy period reflects the strategic thinking and social goals of the times. From the task of saving hunger after war to the goal of industrialization, from the subsidy mechanism to the market economy, from self-sufficiency to export agriculture, the process of land management and agricultural development has together created a foundation for a green, sustainable development model and adaptation to climate change in the present.
Developing the agricultural and environmental sector in the renovation period
From the mid-1990s to 2008, Vietnam's agriculture has changed profoundly under the impact of innovation policies, international integration and the expansion of a socialist-oriented market economy. The promulgation of the Law on Cooperatives in 1996 and the Law on Agricultural Extension in 2004 have created a new legal framework for production and technical support organizations.
Many new-style cooperative models, family farms, and agricultural enterprises have been formed, contributing to diversifying production forms and encouraging creativity of farmers, ensuring national food security, aiming for export, creating a large source of foreign currency revenue, playing a key role in the country's trade balance. In particular, Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2006 has opened up opportunities to access global markets, improve the competitiveness of agricultural products, and promote institutional reform of land, environmental and agricultural management.
Along with economic achievements, environmental awareness and sustainable development in the agricultural sector are starting to take shape clearly. Issues such as land degradation, water pollution, and ecological imbalance due to excessive resource exploitation are raised in the policy making. The State issued a National Environmental Protection Strategy and a National Target Program on Sustainable Land Use, aiming to combine agricultural growth with resource conservation. In the context of globalization, challenges in climate change and biodiversity loss have forced Vietnam to adjust its agricultural development model from pure production to ecology and climate adaptation.
Since 2008, the context of extensive integration and global fluctuations in economy, climate, and trade have created a turning point in the thinking of developing Vietnam's agriculture. When Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), agriculture was no longer simply a field of food security assurance, but became a pillar of the economy participating in the global value chain. Land is viewed as having limited resources, requiring reasonable allocation, protection and effective use.
Policies such as the 7th Central Resolution on Agriculture, Farmers and Rural Areas 2008, have created a foundation for comprehensive restructuring, aiming to increase added value and sustainable development. The land management organization system is gradually shifting from an administrative management model to a resource management model, focusing on planning, monitoring and controlling the quality of land use in an effective, transparent manner, in accordance with market laws.
After 2008, the global financial crisis along with increasingly severe climate change has had a strong impact on Vietnam's agriculture. Rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta, droughts in the Central Highlands and the Central region, along with declining land quality have posed challenges to ecological security and food security. Since 2010, the new rural construction program has been implemented nationwide, promoting agricultural restructuring towards linking infrastructure, planning and production.
Thousands of communes meeting new rural standards are a testament to the combined strength of policies, management systems and efforts of the people. The policy of encouraging land accumulation, forming concentrated production areas, and applying high technology in agriculture has shaped a new direction for the rural economy. Land becomes a foundation for attracting investment, connecting value chains, and developing economic cooperation and linkage between businesses, cooperatives, and farming households.
Vietnam's agriculture is gradually shifting from a self-sufficient supply model to a commodity production model associated with domestic and international markets. In that context, the Party and State have a policy of restructuring the agricultural sector towards increasing added value and sustainable development. Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW on agriculture, farmers and rural areas 2008 and the Agricultural Restructuring Project 2013 are considered fundamental strategic orientations.
Restructuring focuses on three pillars: institutional innovation, improving productivity - quality, and protecting natural resources and the environment. Many land policies have been completed to encourage land accumulation, develop high-tech agriculture, and attract private investment. The national target program on new rural construction is implemented nationwide, creating a new look for rural areas while also fundamentally changing the relationship between the state, businesses and farmers. Land management thinking is expanded towards the market but still ensures social orientation, expressed through the 2013 Land Law and guiding decrees, emphasizing the factors of publicity, transparency and the right to access land of the people.
The environment becomes a central factor in all development policies. Green agriculture, organic agriculture, and circular economy are encouraged through programs such as National Green Growth, Climate Change response, and Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy to 2030, vision 2050. The connection between agriculture and the environment is no longer limited to resource management but is expanding to the fields of trade, investment and innovation. Enterprises are starting to participate in the global value chain, focusing on traceability, biosafety standards and low carbon emissions.
Smart agriculture, green transformation, circular economy, low carbon and climate adaptation in the context of the second country's renovation
Entering the 2020s, the pressure of climate change, land degradation, and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have put the agricultural sector in the green transition phase. The Government approved the Strategy for Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, emphasizing the factors of circular economy, ecological agriculture and organic agriculture. Production areas are re-planned in the direction of adapting to climate change, protecting land, water resources and biodiversity. Land management aims to digitize data, build national land maps, deploy geographic information systems (GIS) for monitoring, forecasting and decision making. Agricultural land is valued, planned and managed according to modern standards, creating conditions for investors to access transparent resources, while protecting the rights of land users.
Land policies in the period of becoming a key factor in ensuring fairness, food safety and social stability. The 2024 Land Law demonstrates the synchronous efforts between the State and the people towards green, smart and sustainable agriculture. The mechanism for land allocation, land lease, and land recovery is adjusted in the direction of balancing the interests of the state, investors and people.
Land policies are closely linked to climate change response strategies, renewable energy development and carbon emission reduction. Land is a means of production and a financial resource, ecological environment and living space of the community. Vietnam is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Agriculture, the sector with a large proportion of emissions, is identified as the focus of the green emission reduction and transformation strategy.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment implements programs such as "Smart Agriculture for Climate Adaptation" (CSA), "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture" and "Action plan to switch to circular agriculture". The applications of digital technology, big data, artificial intelligence, and automation have begun to fundamentally change production methods. The system of land management, water use, weather forecasting and environmental monitoring is digitized, helping to increase the ability to forecast and respond flexibly to climate change.
The shift in crop and livestock structure is taking place strongly towards reducing emissions and increasing resource efficiency. Low-carbon rice cultivation models, mangrove planting, and biological energy development from agricultural by-products have been replicated in many localities. The Mekong Delta has become a leader in converting the agricultural development model to "land-locking" with a long-term vision, linking agricultural production, environmental conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Meanwhile, the Northern mountainous region and the Central Highlands promote ecological agriculture, agriculture associated with green tourism and forest economic development.
Land management in the new period continues to improve in the direction of transparency, efficiency, and based on digital data. Land use planning is integrated with national planning on socio-economic development, environmental protection and climate adaptation. The State encourages the agricultural carbon market mechanism, promotes carbon credits from afforestation, sustainable farming and soil conservation of coal and mud. The relationship between agriculture and the environment has reached a stage of deep interaction, in which agriculture is both a source of emissions but also brings solutions for carbon absorption and neutrality.
The development of Vietnam's agriculture over the past 80 years reflects the process of innovating land management thinking, institutionalizing people's rights and adapting to global fluctuations. From the goal of fighting hunger to sustainable development, from a self-sufficient economy to an internationally integrated market economy, the agricultural sector has gone through a comprehensive process of qualitative transformation. The relationship between people, land and the environment becomes the center of all development policies. The path towards green, smart and climate change-resilient agriculture is the result of eight decades of accumulating experience, creativity and steadfastness in the goal of protecting the country's resources for future generations.
