Structural Change in Agriculture in the Rice Granaries of Vietnam, Fifteen Years after DOI MOI

Abstract

A decade after the introduction of the DOI MOI policy and agricultural reform, Vietnam was positioned as the world’s second largest rice exporter, whereas rice farming itself became a grim business. The government relaxed their egalitarian land allocation policy and encouraged diversification from rice monoculture. The land price had soared in 2000 and the 2003 land law stipulated measures to prevent land speculation. The objective of the research is to identify the effect of land speculation on the structural change in agriculture in the Mekong delta between 1997 and 2002. A follow-up census of an ex-hamlet was undertaken in Can Tho (current Hau Giang) province in 2002. Data from households were stratified by land size and compared with those studied from 1993 to 1997. Branchedout households had multiplied, probably due to the appreciation in land prices. Households were differentiated at around 1 ha subject to their competencies in rice production. Diversification from rice monoculture emerged as another factor differentiating farmers at around 2ha. A ceiling in yield due to land fragmentation and expectations of the agricultural land as an appreciating asset could have affected the farmers’ decision at around 3 ha whether to emigrate from or remain in the hamlet. Discipline: Agricultural economics Additional key words: diversification, land use, Mekong delta, pig, sugarcane