Lessons from a DL Umali Awardee

HOW did Vietnam turn into the second largest rice-exporting country from being the world’s top importer of rice? Through the Contract 100 policy and Land Law, farmers were liberated from a collective and one-price policy, according to Dr. Vo-Tong Xuan, the first Dioscoro Lopez Umali (DLU) awardee for agricultural development. “They have higher yield and have incentives to grow more rice and to sell at a higher price,” Xuan added. Xuan played a key role in Vietnam’s transformation, as he convinced both local and central government to adopt new agricultural policies. But before Xuan achieved a critical mass of participants in the national effort in agricultural and rural development (ARD), he went through several stages. But first he advised that one should have the "heart and head" for ARD and nation-building. "I reckoned it would take first our own people to help themselves before other people would come to help us," said Xuan. Xuan said governments should not only be competent technically but also possess a strong political will to come up with incentive policies for farmers and agribusinesses. However, challenges to the rice-exporting countries like Vietnam remain, he said. “It is easy to boost rice production but very difficult to increase farm income. We need further political will to take rice farmers out of the poverty trap,” said Xuan. Currently, Xuan is advocating a movement to raise farmers’ income through the “value chain” approach. He is planning to form a farmer’s cooperative to create a permanent link to marketing enterprises. As a DLU Awardee, Xuan who is an Agricultural Chemistry alumnus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, received a plaque and a cash prize of $10,000. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), and the DLU Foundation give the DLU award every year to individuals who shows excellence, leadership and service in the field of agricultural development, environment, natural resource management, technology development, food security, poverty reduction, economics, business policy and governance.