Farmer households in Bac Giang Province's districts of Yen The and Luc Ngan can earn annual incomes from VND10 to several hundred million from the sale of chicken and litchi due to the accelerated application of scientific and technological achievements into the local agricultural production.
In recent years, eight documents on state management of science and technology have been issued in the province, creating a legal framework for organizations and individuals to invest in scientific and technological activities. During the 2010-2012 period, the total budget spending on scientific and technological investment amounted to VND97.014 billion including VND43.014 billion from the state budget and VND54 billion from the central funds for scientific and technological investment. Thanks to this funding, the province has made intensive scientific and technological investments and increased the number of local scientists and technologists to 27,359 people.
Bac Giang has focused primarily on agricultural and rural development, with 15 state-level scientific and technological projects, 42 provincial projects, 246 district-level projects approved and implemented during the period. These projects have contributed to solving the urgent productivity and quality problems with the local plants and animals through application of new production and harvesting techniques.
During the first half of 2012, the province registered substantial growths in different agricultural sectors, with about 13.8 million of livestock and poultry, up 3.5 percent over the same period last year, 13,000 tonnes of fishes, up 16.3 percent. In addition, the province's litchi production this year was worth of nearly VND2 trillion.
According to statistics, there are currently over 250 provincial farms with technical and scientific applications. Specifically, the province has had 12 commodities protected with trade names, which provides an important prerequisite for their future expansion in the domestic and international markets.
Since the successful construction of the brand name Yen The Hill-Raised Chicken, chicken raising has become a popular career for many farmer households in Yen The District. They have joined in cooperatives to promote collective strength and share the mutual interest. Many farms there raise from 1,000 to 5,000 or even to 10,000 chickens. Most of them can earn an annual income from VND 50-100 million and many others with income from VND100-200 million.
At a recent working session with the Ministry of Science and Technology's delegation led by Minister Nguyen Quan, Chairman of Bac Giang Province People's Committee Bui Van Hai said, "Bac Giang Province has huge potential to produce vegetables, roots, fruits, and livestock. However, the productivity and product quality are still low, only meeting the local consumer demand. Some local products have been produced on large scale but can not enter supermarkets because of low and unstable quality. Therefore, it is necessary that the Ministry of Science and Technology should continue to support scientific and technological innovation projects in Bac Giang Province to help the local producers to improve their production, processing and export of some key products. In the near future, Bac Giang Province will need assiduous support in building and protecting the trade names of some local agricultural products including Luc Nam Custard-Apple, Yen The Tea, and Tan Yen Peanut."/.
