Socio-economic changes in Van Giang (Hung Yen) after the land consolidation process 1999 - 2008

Natural conditions

Van Giang District is the westernmost district of Hung Yen Province, located in the Northern Delta, on the left bank of the Red River, bordering two provinces and cities: Ha Tay (old) and Hanoi, now Hanoi. To the south it borders Khoai Chau District, to the southeast it borders Yen My, to the northeast it borders Van Lam (districts of Hung Yen Province), to the north and northwest it borders Gia Lam District, to the west it borders Thanh Tri and to the southwest it borders Thuong Tin (Hanoi).

Before 1997, Van Giang and Khoai Chau districts merged into Chau Giang district of the old Hai Hung province. In 1997, Hung Yen re-established the province, immediately after that, Chau Giang district was separated into Van Giang and Khoai Chau. The new Van Giang district now includes 11 communes and towns. 9 communes of the old Chau Giang and 2 of My Van are: Xuan Quan, Phung Cong, Long Hung, Cuu Cao, Tan Tien, Vinh Khuc, Lien Nghia, Me So, Nghia Tru, Thang Loi and Van Giang town.

About land: Van Giang has a natural area of 71.8 km2 . Van Giang

Located in the middle of the Red River Delta with a humid tropical monsoon climate, the terrain is relatively flat, with an average altitude of 4m above sea level. The total agricultural land area of Van Giang is 4437.8 ha, of which agricultural production is 3994.1 ha, rice land is 1888.3 ha, perennial crop land is 1027.9 ha and water surface land and aquaculture is 439.3 ha [64, p. 2]. Van Giang fields are divided into 3 regions: the Red River alluvial land, the rice area and the rice - color - industrial crop area. Van Giang fields are inherently fertile (first-class high fields, sticky rice fields). The difference in soil fertility between regions is not high, the soil quality is relatively uniform. This is a favorable condition for the consolidation and concentration of land in the district.

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Regarding hydrology: Van Giang has two large rivers flowing through it, the Nguu Giang River and the Te Giang River, which have gradually been filled in. Now, what remains are low-lying rice fields, aquaculture ponds, reservoirs, and the riverbed has gradually narrowed.

Van Giang fields are currently supplied with water by the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system, creating favorable conditions for agricultural development.

Van Giang has a 12km long Red River dike running from Xuan Quan commune (bordering Gia Lam - Hanoi) to Me So commune (bordering Khoai Chau - Hung Yen). From 1781 to 1799, Van Giang dike broke for 18 consecutive years ( Dai Nam Thuc Luc Chinh Bien book ), making people's lives miserable. In 1924, Da Hoa dike broke [13 - page 18], water overflowed Khoai Chau, Van Giang, Yen My, Phu Cu, Kim Dong, An Thi districts. Therefore, the Red River is both a source of benefit and an obstacle to the socio-economic development of the district both in the past and present.

Regarding transportation: Van Giang has a very convenient water and road traffic system. The waterway has Me ferry (Me So commune) with boats from the Central provinces and the Viet Bac provinces. The district road has roads 206 and 207, which are the main traffic routes. Van Giang is located near the southeast of Hanoi, thanks to which people can soon access the quintessence of the ancient Thang Long capital, with the progress of Hanoi today.

Socio-economic conditions

The current population of Van Giang is about 104,400 people, of which 49,439 are men, accounting for 47.4% of the total population. The rural population is 92,934 people, accounting for 89% of the total population of the district. Of which, the working-age population is 52,305 people, accounting for 50% of the population. The labor force in agriculture, forestry and fishery is 37,727 people, accounting for 72.1% of the total labor force [64, p. 13], the rest are workers in state-owned economic sectors and other national economic sectors. Thus, it can be seen that the majority of Van Giang residents live in rural areas and work in agriculture. This is both an advantage and a difficulty for the economic and social development of the locality in the process of industrialization and modernization.

The geographical location of Van Giang is adjacent to Hanoi, and near the provinces of Hai Duong, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh, so the people here are also very responsive to changes in the country's economy and society, dynamic in business, production, and building cultural life.

Located on the left bank of the Red River, in the middle of the Northern Delta, is an alluvial land, fertile land, favorable weather, and relatively flat terrain, so up to now, Van Giang's economy has mainly been agricultural production.

Van Giang people have a long tradition of farming, passing on to the next generation the experience of observing the weather, growing rice, choosing seeds, preparing the soil, growing mulberry trees, raising silkworms, fishing, cleaning Red River fish eggs and doing handicrafts.

Along with farming, Van Giang also has many traditional handicrafts such as boat weaving, ceramics in Xuan Quan, dyeing dark cloth in Xuan Cau (Nghia Tru), brown cloth in Phu Thi (Me So), making cakes in Phung Cong, Cuu Cao, Me So, weaving Dragon cloth in Nhu Lan (Long Hung). In the 17th century, Van Giang became the connecting point between Thang Long and Pho Hien. Van Giang has two famous and quite special trading villages: Da Nguu (Tan Tien commune) and Dong Tinh (Nghia Tru commune).

Entering the renovation period, many famous traditional craft villages in Van Giang have been transformed and developed in new directions such as: embroidery, rattan and bamboo weaving, pottery, wood products, construction materials. These are the potentials that help Van Giang make progress in the development periods of the country, especially when our country is on the path of renovation and international integration.

In recent years, with its location near the capital Hanoi, Van Giang's economy has changed dramatically, gradually shifting from agriculture to industry - agriculture - services. Many factories and industrial enterprises

small and medium enterprises are built in the area. The section of the Hanoi - Hai Phong 5B traffic route under construction runs through Van Giang. Currently, the district is continuing to plan new industrial and service clusters: the industrial park in the east of Van Giang district, the AGRIMECO Tan Tao mechanical and energy industrial park - Vinh Khuc industrial park, Van Giang urban, commercial and tourism area...

The economic structure of Van Giang district in 2008 achieved the corresponding proportion of agriculture - construction industry - trade and services of 34.9% - 28.4% - 36.7%, following the trend of gradually reducing the proportion of agriculture, increasing the contribution of construction industry and services. The local socio-economic targets were basically completed and exceeded the target. The socio-economic face of Van Giang is changing. People's lives are improving both materially and spiritually.

* Land situation and agricultural production of Van Giang district before urbanization

Before re-establishment, Van Giang was a part of Chau Giang district, Hai Hung province (including Khoai Chau district, Van Giang district and 2 communes of Yen My district, Hung Yen province today). In 1981, implementing Directive 100CT (Contract 100) of the Party Central Committee Secretariat, Chau Giang district leaders deployed the allocation of agricultural land to groups and workers, creating momentum for agricultural production, especially food production of the district to develop. After a period of implementation, the lives of cooperative members in the district still faced many difficulties. Although it is a Red River Delta district with fertile agricultural land, but facing the common difficulties of the economy and the agricultural sector of the whole country, Chau Giang's agricultural production grew slowly.

In 1998, the agricultural land area of communes within the present-day Van Giang district was 5,148.23 hectares, out of a total of 7,179.21 hectares of natural land.

However. The total number of households participating in agricultural production in the district is 21,045 households. On average, each farming household in the district uses about 0.24 hectares. With a total of about 85,000 people and 36,827 workers in the agricultural sector, the average agricultural land of Van Giang per household and per person is too small.

Implementing the Contract 10 policy, farmers in Van Giang have received high, low, far, near fields... with different areas. For a long time after Contract 10, agricultural production in Van Giang has always been in a state of small-scale dispersion, farmers work in a small-scale farming style. The average area of each field is about 300m2 . Large fields are only about 400m2 ( not including public land). The fields are too small, not allowing them to use machines instead of human power and buffalo and cow traction, labor tools have not changed much. Each household in the district owns from 7 to 10 fields, the smallest household has 5 fields scattered everywhere, kilometers apart. Van Giang's agricultural land has a very high potential for intensive cultivation, can be intercropped, and can be intercropped. However, due to the characteristics of small fields that are too far apart, most households do not fully utilize the potential of the land, often only cultivating 2 crops, especially for fertile land. Many households want to switch to growing fruit trees, industrial crops, flowers, and ornamental plants, but they really have difficulty in applying.

science and technology. The cost of products is therefore higher. The livestock industry also develops on a small scale in each household, ensuring daily food needs and holidays. Aquaculture almost only takes place in ponds and lagoons contracted by cooperatives.

Therefore, the productivity, output, and agricultural production value of Van Giang in these years are not high compared to the potential of a district in the Red River Delta. The output of grain in 1999 of Van Giang was: 25,677 tons, the output of short-term crops was: 4,566 tons, industrial crops and perennial crops were:

8,500 tons. The district's annual rice yield in 1999 was only 56.7 quintals/ha, resulting in the district's agricultural production value this year also being low, reaching 218,568 million VND.

Van Giang fields have alluvial soil, sandy soil and loam soil, suitable for growing food crops (rice, corn, potatoes...), fruit trees (longan, orange, grapefruit, apple...), ornamental plants, industrial plants and medicinal plants. Although the agricultural land area is increasingly narrowing, Van Giang fields are inherently fertile (high ratio of first-class fields, rice fields and honey fields). In recent years, people have known how to apply advanced science and technology to production, so the productivity of crops and livestock is increasingly high, and agricultural products are increasingly abundant.

Before the policy of land use change of the Central and the province reached the district, based on the characteristics of agricultural cultivation, many farming households in the district voluntarily exchanged land with each other, to concentrate land in a piece of land that is convenient for cultivation. This situation is common in communes where farmers have switched from rice cultivation to industrial crops, ornamental plants and fruit trees with high economic efficiency such as Phung Cong, Lien Nghia, Van Giang town, Me So... before 1998. To make the most of the land area, reduce the labor of care and harvesting, and especially apply synchronous farming techniques, farming households with fields close to each other, relatively equal in area, have exchanged land with each other, but only in the field because there is no direction from the local government, no change in agricultural land ownership documents. Many households have boldly rented or bought land from neighboring households to expand production. Many fields of bananas, oranges, tangerines, kumquats, apples and farms raising livestock and raising fish, ranging from several acres to acres in the North, have appeared, proving the effectiveness of this production method.

concentrated production. In addition, some farmers and farming households have switched to other industries, mainly services and handicraft production.

* DDDT results in Van Giang

Implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee and the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, based on the land characteristics and the agricultural production situation in the locality, right from the time the Hung Yen Provincial People's Committee issued a Resolution on urbanization, Van Giang, which was then under Chau Giang district, became one of the three districts with communes selected as pilot areas for urbanization. By 1999, after completing the separation of districts, the Van Giang District People's Committee and District People's Committee had issued documents guiding the review of the area and use of agricultural land, and guiding the implementation of urbanization to communes and villages.

On February 20, 1999, Van Giang District People's Committee issued a decision " On reviewing the situation of agricultural land use " in the whole district to compile statistics on the situation of agricultural land use of farming households, data on land division and ownership to prepare for the land use planning work implemented by the Provincial People's Committee.

On August 10, 2001, Hung Yen Provincial People's Committee issued a directive on the implementation of land use planning in the whole province. On August 16, 2001, the People's Committee, People's Council and People's Committee of Van Giang district issued a Resolution " On the implementation of the Resolution of the Provincial People's Committee on the implementation of land use planning in agricultural land ", which clearly stated: "Based on the actual use of agricultural land in the district, the fragmented and small-scale land dispersion has directly affected the production activities of farming households, especially households in the area growing ornamental plants, fruit trees, commercial vegetables and raising large livestock and aquaculture". Therefore, the People's Committee and the District Department of Agriculture have conducted measurements, made plans, and provided specific instructions to each commune on the land use planning process, the issuance and exchange of land use right certificates and land use planning after land use planning.

Along with that, the district conducted training for staff of departments in the district and staff of communes on the process of urbanization in the area. Based on the re-measured cadastral maps of each village and commune, the district's Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Department of Agriculture developed urbanization plans, public land planning, production area planning and land for public works.

September 5, 2001, People's Committee, Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources

- Van Giang Environment Department issued a directive " Implementing the land use planning in the whole district " and sent it to the communes to carry out the land use planning in the field. Along with the document guiding "The land use planning plan and instructions on the procedures, contents of land use planning and completing the land records to issue and change land use right certificates" in the whole district on September 11, 2001.

Each village and commune in the district quickly collected people's opinions on the land consolidation plan for each village and each field before finalizing the land consolidation plan for each village and commune and submitting it to the district for approval, ensuring the principles of voluntariness, democracy and fairness. After receiving the consensus of the people in the whole district, the field consolidation work was carried out quickly and achieved good results.

Based on the statistics of the province and the district's Department of Agriculture, the district People's Committee in collaboration with the Department of Land Administration - Natural Resources and Environment, the land acquisition work of Van Giang has completed the targets and ahead of schedule. In 2002, only 7 out of 11 communes and towns in the district completed the land acquisition work, and no commune had households owning less than 3 rice fields. By early 2003, the remaining communes in the district had completed the consolidation of agricultural land areas and allocated rice fields to households in accordance with the spirit and direction of the district. The results were shown through the summary of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the district.

Socio-economic changes in Van Giang (Hung Yen) after the land consolidation process 1999 - 2008 - 5

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