Production Support Policies: A Lifeline for Ethnic Minority Communities
Recent years have seen ethnic minority communities effectively leverage state-backed production loans and support programs for their intended purposes. These tangible results are now serving as a foundation for the province to further refine its support policies to meet the actual needs of local residents.
Aligning with Real-World Needs
After more than four months of care, the Zebu-crossbred heifers provided to Triet Y Krang’s family in Dam Rong 2 Commune have adapted well to local conditions and are now pregnant. For Krang, this cattle herd is not just a valuable asset, but a catalyst to improve his family's livelihood.
As one of six households selected for the 2025 Agricultural Extension Program, Krang proactively invested in building sheds, planting grass, and adopting pen-feeding practices to facilitate care and disease prevention. The family repurposes agricultural by-products for cattle feed and composts animal waste into organic fertilizer, lowering costs while establishing a circular farming model.
By strictly adhering to technical guidelines, the family’s cattle now average 240–250 kg per head, marking a 20–30 kg increase from when they were first distributed. "Thanks to the technical guidance on care, vaccination, and feed storage from agricultural officers, the herd is thriving. I feel much more confident investing in livestock production," Krang shared.
According to the Economic Division of Dam Rong 2 Commune, the 2025 Agricultural Extension Program for breeding cattle distributed three Zebu-crossbred heifers to each of the six participating households. To date, the herd has developed stably with no disease outbreaks reported; 10 heifers are currently pregnant, and two have successfully given birth.
These initial results demonstrate that state support funds yield optimal returns when delivered to the right beneficiaries and coupled with technical training. The model not only provides alternative livelihoods and raises incomes, but also shifts traditional farming habits, laying a sustainable foundation for poverty reduction in ethnic minority areas.
Driving Policy Innovation Through Practical Success
Assessments indicate that past production support policies have successfully delivered timely crop seeds, agricultural supplies, and essential inputs to ethnic minority households. This intervention has stabilized local production, curbed reliance on high-interest informal credit, reduced commercial fraud risks, and driven household economic growth.
During the 2021–2025 period, the implementation of production investment support and forest protection contracting achieved significant milestones, boosting socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous regions.
By advancing agricultural inputs and securing product offtake agreements, the production support policy enabled ethnic minority households to access critical farming resources. This significantly reduced informal high-interest lending, mitigated price-squeezing during harvests, and gradually formed structured production-consumption linkages.
During the 2021–2025 period, the policy supported 3,800 households cultivating hybrid corn across 7,800 hectares and 970 households farming wet rice over 730 hectares, with total funding exceeding 63.19 billion VND. After deducting advanced investment costs, local farmers received a net total of nearly 61 billion VND.
Following the reorganization of provincial-level administrative units, tailoring policies to real-world conditions and the province's strategic development goals has become an urgent priority. The Provincial People's Council (HĐND) is currently drafting resolutions on production investment support and interest rate subsidies specifically targeting local ethnic minority households. Once enacted, these policies are expected to provide a renewed impetus for residents to invest in production, increase their income, and secure long-term livelihood stability.