APEC seminars discuss sustainable agricultural production

A view of an APEC seminar in Can Tho City last week - PHOTO: HUYNH KIM

A series of conferences took place within the framework of the APEC Food Security Week in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho from August 18-20, focusing on sustainable agricultural production solutions amid severe impacts of climate change.

At a seminar on food security challenges and water resources, delegates exchanged information on cross-border water resource management and experiences of APEC economies. Besides, they discussed the role of the private sector in water resource protection and increase public-private cooperation to deal with the issues.

Delegates stressed the need to establish national committees to speed up inter-sector management, set up a river basin committee and apply modern technologies in water resource control. Governments must support plant diversification, water resource protection and reserves, drought supervision and climate information services.

At a workshop on agricultural biological technology, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department of Science, Technology and Environment, said the application of new technologies should be encouraged.

Biological technology plays an important role in sustainable development of the agriculture sector. It is a solution to improve productivity and quality of farm produce, she said.

Meanwhile, at a seminar on climate information and sustainable food security, delegates discussed the adoptability of food production systems and solutions for climate risk management.

Hong-Sang Jung, executive director of the APEC Climate Center, said APEC economies must ensure food security in the context of climate change to sustain economic growth.

Nguyen Linh Ngoc, Vietnam’s deputy minister of agriculture and rural development, said food security and adaptation to climate change can help APEC economies address negative impacts of climate change. Member economies should also cooperate in weather forecasting.

Regarding food loss and wastage, Xifeng Gong, interim lead shepherd for the APEC Agricultural Technological Cooperation Working Group, said at a seminar that the problem would impact on APEC economies, societies and the environment.

All available resources from the public and private sectors of APEC economies should be used in a suitable way to develop policy recommendations and solutions to reducing food loss and wastage in the entire supply chain, he said.

Tran Kim Long, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s international cooperation department, said the impact of climate change and the lack of infrastructure for agriculture in developing economies were the main causes of food loss and wastage.

Ha Thanh Toan, dean of the Can Tho University, told the Daily that the school is ready to cooperate with international partners to establish a post-harvest loss reduction center.