Conclusion on Land issue
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1. Vietnam has a total area of 33.2 million hectares with 14
soil groups and 31 soil units, of which more than 50% is considered as
“problem soils” in terms of fertility and productivity. Natural land and
cultivation land per capita are both low (0.4 and 0.1ha respectively) and
tend to reduce due to high population growth rate (1.7
%/year).
2. Land resource use is found unreasonable and inefficient.
3/4 of total natural land is sloping land, but in agricultural land use
structure, annual crops account for more than 70%, while perennial crops
are under 20%. Land used ratio is low (around 1.6). Advantages of
forestry, perennial crop plantation and cattle raising in mountainous and
hilly areas are not fully appreciated. Average yield of the main crops is
low in comparison with the rest of the world. Shifting cultivation,
extensive cultivation and mono-cultivation are still popular in mountain
areas, especially in remote areas.
3. Land and population distribution by regions has not been
regulated reasonably. Populations are mainly concentrated in the plains
where average natural and cultivation land per capita is very
low.
4. Causes of land deterioration have resulted from natural
and socio-economic conditions and consequences of the
war.
5. Vietnam has suffered from a series of negative problems
of soil environment: Erosion, leaching, soils with low fertility and
imbalance nutrition, salinisation, acidification, pollution,
deforestation, deposit, droughts, water logging, organic degradation, land
slide, erosion of river bank and coastline, poor cropping patterns, lost
productivity etc.
6. Soil deterioration is rapidly increasing both in its
speed and seriousness. This is common in many large areas, especially in
mountainous areas that account for 3/4 of total natural land where
ecological balance is disturbed more seriously than other
areas.
7. Consequences of land degradation in Vietnam are very
serious. Especially it leads to the depletion of fauna and flora, loss of
land productivity and drastic reduction of agricultural land per
capita.
8. Several policies and programs to combat land degradation
are being implemented in Vietnam. The important measures adopted are soil
and water conservation; reclamation of waterlogged and saline and acid
sulphate soils; afforestation and forest management, and rehabilitation of
soil fertility in sloping barren land, in arable lands by use of
appropriate integrated measures. In addition, a number of policies have
been proposed.
9. In order to combat land degradation various constraints
are to be overcome. The policies on food security for people in mountain
areas, and watershed and wetland management and application of advanced
technology should be improved and strictly implemented, relevant to the
specific ecological conditions. Priority attention should be paid for
improvement of problem soils, for proper use of land resources, and for
sustainable development.
10. Co-operation among national, regional and international
organisations in realisation of policies and programs on land
conservation, sustainable land management and use should be
promoted.