PROPOSAL OF PREFERENTIAL POLICIES FOR CASSAVA TREE

Vietnam Cassava Association recommends the Prime Minister to adopt preferential policies for cassava as applied to rice, sugar cane and coffee trees to ensure the sustainable development of the cassava industry.

Vietnam Cassava Association said that with an area of ​​about 550 thousand hectares, yield of 10 million tons / year, cassava is being planted from north to south, present in all 6 ecological regions in the country, attracting over 50,000 laborers for plants, processing facilities and 1.2 million cassava workers. Each hectare of cassava yields about 11.6 million VND, slightly lower than that of rice (14 million VND / ha / year).

 
Export value of cassava and products from cassava ranked the second, after Thailand. The export value from 2012 to now reach from $ 1-1.35 billion per year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade put into the group of 10 major export agricultural products of Vietnam in recent years.

In 2016, cassava and cassava exports totaled 3.9 million tones, with a total value of US $ 1.08 billion, ranking fifth among Vietnam’s key export crops.

Accordingly, the Viet Nam cassava association offers the Prime Minister preferential policies for cassava as applied to rice, sugar cane and coffee to ensure the sustainable development of the cassava industry.

Cassava tree are planted in extremely difficult areas, need to change the crop structure, creating conditions for hunger elimination, poverty reduction, industrialization and modernization of rural agriculture.

Therefore, the Association also suggested the Prime Minister to direct the local authorities should have a policy of planning raw material areas associated with planning development of processing plants, ensuring the balanced and sustainable development of the sector of cassava in the present and long term.

At present, the tax of sugar has decreased from 10% to 5%, but cassava starch still applies a 10% tax rate. The association recommends adjusting the tax to 5% with cassava starch as 80% of this product is exported and contributes to the country’s large turnover.

In addition, the Association also proposed the application of high tariffs on exports of fresh roots to prevent exporting  fresh cassava through the border gate to China, restricting export of raw materials to ensure material for the starch processing factory in the country.

Simultaneously, the reduction of import tax on fresh cassava roots to exploit raw materials from Laos and Cambodia to Vietnam, ensuring the need for processing in the country.

At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is proposing a working program with the Ministry of Agriculture of China to register the export of cassava residue from Vietnam to the Chinese market, such as Laos and Cambodia.

According to Tam An / Baomoi.com