The average production value per hectare of agricultural land across the country still varies greatly between regions, ranging from 80-200 million VND/ha/year, indicating significant potential for improving efficiency. Photo: Truong Giang.

Improve efficiency of use

Over the past decade, Vietnam's land use landscape has shown a remarkable trend. Agricultural land has not only not shrunk, but has actually increased from 26.23 million hectares in 2011 to over 28.15 million hectares in 2024, continuing to account for nearly 85% of the total land area. Of this, rice-growing land maintains approximately 3.5 million hectares, essentially ensuring national food security.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the area of ​​unused land has decreased sharply from 3.16 million hectares (2011) to less than 1 million hectares (2024), meaning that more than 2.2 million hectares of land have been put into exploitation.

There has also been a transformation within agricultural land. Between 2021 and 2024, many localities converted hundreds of thousands of hectares of low-yield rice land to other crops or aquaculture, increasing income per unit area by 1.2-1.5 times compared to before.

Many large-scale, concentrated, specialized production areas have been formed; the mechanization rate in rice production in some key areas has reached over 90% in land preparation and harvesting.

However, land use efficiency remains uneven. The average production value per hectare of agricultural land nationwide varies greatly between regions, ranging from 80-200 million VND/ha/year, indicating significant potential for improvement.

Reorganize the way land resources are exploited

According to statistics, in 2024, the country's unused land area was 954.95 thousand hectares, accounting for 2.88% of the total natural land area. This is an important reserve, but it is not easy to exploit. The majority of unused land is scattered in mountainous or difficult areas with high, rugged terrain, steep slopes, and thin soil layers; some areas in coastal regions are affected by acidity and salinity, thus limiting the potential for exploitation and improvement. Effective exploitation requires significant investment in infrastructure and technology.

In reality, the potential of unused land for expanding agricultural production is limited; the main potential lies in developing forestry to increase forest cover, contributing to soil and ecological protection; only a small portion is available for non-agricultural purposes.

Therefore, improving the efficiency of agricultural land use lies in addressing the inefficient use of land currently in use. In fact, experience shows that when reorganized, land can quickly become a significant resource.

In the Đồng Tháp Mười area of ​​the former Long An province, which was once a "wild swamp" with heavily acidic, waterlogged soil, almost unsuitable for cultivation, the region has transformed over 30 years through investments in irrigation and land reclamation policies. This area has become one of the country's major rice granaries, contributing millions of tons of food annually.

Hundreds of hectares of rice paddies in Phuoc Nang commune (Phuoc Son district, former Quang Nam province, now Da Nang city), once abandoned, have now become fertile fields yielding bountiful harvests. Phuoc Nang's approach involves the people reclaiming the land, the government providing machinery to help with plowing, and supplying rice seeds and fertilizer. Commune officials go directly to the fields to guide farmers on rice planting, care, and pest control for organic rice production. After more than five years, thanks to land reclamation and reclamation, the 120-hectare rice paddies now produce two crops per year with high yields comparable to those in the lowlands.

Realizing this through institutions and policies

The current reality shows that the biggest bottleneck is not a lack of land, but rather the fragmentation of land, making consolidation difficult; the lack of flexible mechanisms to support businesses in consolidating agricultural land; unclear regional production planning; and a lack of linkages with businesses…

In many places, businesses want to invest but cannot acquire enough land. Conversely, people own land but lack the conditions for efficient production. As a result, land is left fallow or used inefficiently. This is a very clear form of resource waste.

Resolution 18-NQ/TW clearly stated the requirement for appropriate policies to effectively utilize agricultural land and maximize the value of land resources. Policies on land consolidation, land exchange, raw material area development, and attracting businesses into agriculture have been implemented.

In the context of the ongoing amendments and additions to the Land Law, it is expected that the institutionalization of new Party resolutions, especially Resolution 57 on breakthroughs in science and technology development, will create a strong impetus to promote the application of technical advancements in land reclamation and restoration. This will not only unlock the potential of undeveloped land but also improve the efficiency of agricultural land use and unused land, contributing to a solid foundation for the development of modern and sustainable agriculture in the coming period.

But to transform these policies into prosperous lands, mechanisms are needed to guarantee the rights of people who contribute land; decisive action from local authorities; and more sustainable production-consumption linkages…

When individual plots of land are connected to form large-scale production areas, and when land is managed as a true economic resource, "potential" will no longer be just a possibility on paper, but will become a clear driving force for agricultural development in the new era.

According to Mr. Le Van Binh, Deputy Director of the Land Management Department, the 2024 Land Law includes specific regulations on expanding the limit for receiving the transfer of agricultural land use rights by individuals; expanding the scope of those eligible to receive the transfer of agricultural land use rights to economic organizations and individuals not directly engaged in agricultural production, allowing them to receive the transfer of rice cultivation land within the allocated land limit. This aims to create conditions for organizations and individuals with capital and scientific and technical capacity to access land and invest in commercial agricultural production; limit the abandonment or inefficient use of agricultural land; and simultaneously includes specific regulations on agricultural land consolidation and accumulation to facilitate agricultural land users in expanding the scale of agricultural production.