RESEARCH ON THE CURRENT SITUATION OF LAND RENTAL AND CONVERSION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND USE PURPOSES IN NGHĨA HƯNG DISTRICT, NAM ĐỊNH PROVINCE

RESEARCH ON THE CURRENT SITUATION OF LAND RENTAL AND CONVERSION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND USE PURPOSES IN NGHĨA HƯNG DISTRICT, NAM ĐỊNH PROVINCE

RESEARCH ON THE CURRENT SITUATION OF LAND RENTAL AND CONVERSION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND USE PURPOSES IN NGHĨA HƯNG DISTRICT, NAM ĐỊNH PROVINCE

Trần Thu Thủy

National Economics University

Hoàng Xuân Lâm

Student of Land Management major K62 – National Economics University

Abstract:

Nghĩa Hưng is a coastal plain district of Nam Định Province, serving as the southeastern gateway of the province. With its potential for agricultural production and the increasingly robust industrialization and urbanization process in Nghĩa Hưng, the demand for land use is steadily increasing, significantly impacting the work of renting out public land and converting agricultural land use purposes across the entire district. This paper aims to assess the current state of public land rental and conversion of agricultural land use purposes in the district and proposes several solutions for managing the agricultural land fund in Nghĩa Hưng District.

Keywords: land rental; land use purpose conversion; public land, Nghĩa Hưng District.

I. INTRODUCTION

Nghĩa Hưng is a coastal plain district located in the southwest of Nam Định Province. To the east, it borders Hải Hậu and Trực Ninh Districts; to the west, it borders Kim Sơn (Ninh Bình Province); to the south, it borders the East Sea; and to the north, it borders Nam Trực and Ý Yên Districts. With its location adjacent to the Đào, Đáy, and Ninh Cơ Rivers, Nghĩa Hưng’s land is primarily alluvial soil formed by the Red River system, with agricultural land accounting for over 60% of the total natural land area of the district.

The socio-economic development process of Nam Định Province in general, and Nghĩa Hưng District in particular, towards industrialization and modernization has resulted in agricultural land being converted for the development of urban systems, residential areas, and infrastructure construction. Meanwhile, agricultural production remains the main livelihood source of the locality.

The exploitation and use of agricultural land in the district also face certain difficulties that need to be studied, evaluated, and resolved to unlock land resources in the future. Based on these practical requirements, the topic: “Research on the Current Situation of Land Rental and Conversion of Agricultural Land Use Purposes in Nghĩa Hưng District, Nam Định Province” was selected for study.

II. RESEARCH METHODS

1. Secondary Data Collection Method

The data collected on land rental and conversion of agricultural land use purposes in Nghĩa Hưng District, Nam Định Province includes reports, statistics, land inventory, land use status maps over three years, reports on socio-economic development, land management situation, especially data on land rental and conversion of agricultural land use purposes.

2. Synthesis Method

The collected data was synthesized using Microsoft Excel for analysis. The processed synthesis results were calculated to compare, evaluate, and draw conclusions.

III. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Overview of the Natural and Socio-Economic Conditions of Nghĩa Hưng District

Nghĩa Hưng is a coastal plain district located in the southwest of Nam Định Province. To the east, it borders Hải Hậu and Trực Ninh Districts; to the west, it borders Kim Sơn (Ninh Bình Province); to the south, it borders the East Sea; and to the north, it borders Nam Trực and Ý Yên Districts.

With its location adjacent to the Đào, Đáy, and Ninh Cơ Rivers, Nghĩa Hưng’s land is primarily alluvial soil formed by the Red River system. Nghĩa Hưng is traversed by provincial roads 55, 508, and 493; it consists of 25 administrative units, including 3 towns and 22 communes. With such geographical location and transportation systems, Nghĩa Hưng has favorable conditions for economic and cultural exchanges with districts within and outside the province, which is crucial for the economic development of Nghĩa Hưng.

The natural land area of Nghĩa Hưng District is 25,047.77 hectares. The land characteristics of Nghĩa Hưng District include young alluvial soil, while coastal communes have saline-intruded areas, and tidal flats are salty lands. Coastal tidal flats have the potential for aquaculture, protective forest planting, and salt production. Saline land due to saltwater intrusion has the potential for sedge cultivation and intensive wet rice farming.

The alluvial land along the Đáy, Đào, and Ninh Cơ Rivers, distributed along the riverbanks, has the potential for crop cultivation, industrial tree planting, and construction material production. In 2023, the basic construction production value (at 2015 constant prices) of the district was estimated at 2,863 billion VND, reaching 124.52% compared to the same period; at current prices, it was 4,193 billion VND, equivalent to 128.5% compared to the same period.

As a result, in 2023, the growth rate of production value of various economic sectors was estimated at 10.56%; the average per capita income in the entire district reached 65 million VND per year. The economic structure has shifted in a positive direction, increasing the proportion of industrial and service sectors, while reducing the proportion of the agricultural sector.

2. Overview of Land Management in Nghĩa Hưng District

Table 1. Current Status and Changes in Agricultural Land Use in Nghĩa Hưng District, 2021 – 2023 (Unit: ha)

Source: Nghĩa Hưng District Department of Natural Resources and Environment

From Table 1, it can be seen that the agricultural land area of Nghĩa Hưng District decreased by 395.6 hectares from 2021 to 2023; among them, the area of aquaculture land and rice land decreased the most by 320.50 hectares and 197.70 hectares, respectively.

The management of land use has been appropriately prioritized, resulting in significant achievements in the socio-economic development process, with considerable contributions from the reasonable, effective, and lawful exploitation and use of land according to planning and land use plans. Violations of legal regulations have been fundamentally prevented and strictly handled. The rights of land users have been ensured.

Land allocation, land leasing, and permission for land use purpose conversion in the district have generally met the land use needs for local socio-economic development, and new regulations on the basis, conditions, and procedures for land allocation, land leasing, and permission for land use purpose conversion have been implemented by local authorities.

3. Current Situation of Land Rental and Conversion of Agricultural Land Use Purposes

3.1. Results of Public Land Rental

Table 3. Results of Public Agricultural Land Rental in Nghĩa Hưng District, 2021 – 2023

Source: Nghĩa Hưng District Department of Natural Resources and Environment

From Table 3, it can be seen that among the 996.12 hectares of public land for rent, 899.70 hectares are used for aquaculture, 84.69 hectares for annual crop planting, 4.35 hectares for perennial crop planting, and 7.38 hectares for other agricultural land. Thus, the public land area of the communes is predominantly utilized for aquaculture. As Nghĩa Hưng is a coastal plain district, it has a relatively large area of alluvial land managed by the communes and leased to residents through land use rights auctions for no longer than 5 years.

The alluvial land area of Cồn Xanh, managed by Nghĩa Hưng District, is assigned to nine communes and towns, including Nghĩa Lâm, Nghĩa Hùng, Nghĩa Hải, Nghĩa Thành, Phúc Thắng, Nam Điền, Nghĩa Bình, Nghĩa Lợi, and Rạng Đông Town. This area is the main aquaculture land for the residents of Nghĩa Hưng. The land rental process here is encouraged and implemented with contract terms of less than 5 years. By 2019 and 2020, most agricultural land rental contracts in the Cồn Xanh area had expired, and extensions were necessary for continued use.

In 2021, according to the decision on approving the Land Use Planning until 2030 of Nghĩa Hưng District, part of the Cồn Xanh area was included in the planning for industrial development with three approved projects: Xuân Thiện Nghĩa Hưng Green Steel Plant Project; Xuân Thiện Nam Định Green Steel Plant No. 1 Project; and Xuân Thiện Precast Concrete Component Production Plant Project. After the formation, renovation, and infrastructure construction, the Cồn Xanh area became a high-value production and aquaculture area, leading families to continue extending their contracts.

Although a new industrial park plan was established in 2021 as mentioned above, the People’s Committees of Nghĩa Lâm, Nam Điền, Nghĩa Thành, and Nghĩa Hải Communes still extended land lease agreements for residents. As a result, many households continued to have land lease contracts for aquaculture in the area designated for the industrial park until 2021 and 2022. When the district decided to reclaim over 431 hectares of aquaculture land here for the project without compensation, it led to disputes, affecting the interests of the land users.

From the beginning of 2024 to now, the province has strengthened close coordination with central agencies to continue decisively directing the land recovery work, ensuring the progress of Xuân Thiện Group’s projects. This includes enhanced efforts in propagandizing, mobilizing, and explaining to the households to understand and soon hand over the leased aquaculture land in the Cồn Xanh area.

However, despite the efforts in propaganda and mobilization, some households still want to continue production and avoid contact with the Propaganda and Mobilization Task Force. There are instances where some households comply with the province’s policy but are threatened with property destruction by malicious individuals; some petitioners and citizens continue to organize activities of complaints to prolong their land use duration, obstructing the project’s activities.

3.2. Results of Agricultural Land Use Purpose Conversion

During the 2021 – 2023 period, the area of agricultural land converted to non-agricultural land mainly shifted to residential land, special-use land, industrial park land, public-purpose land, non-agricultural production and business land, and cemetery land, as detailed in the table below:

Table 3. Increase in Non-Agricultural Land Area Due to Agricultural Land Conversion, 2021 – 2023

Source: Nghĩa Hưng District Department of Natural Resources and Environment

The conversion of agricultural land use purposes mainly to industrial park land accounted for 188.62 hectares, making up 45.88% of the total increased non-agricultural land area. Agricultural land converted to non-agricultural production and business land amounted to 91.31 hectares, accounting for 21.00% of the total increased non-agricultural land area. The conversion of agricultural land use purposes to cemetery land was the lowest, at 0.42 hectares, accounting for 0.01% of the total increased non-agricultural land area.

Thus, during the past period, the work of converting land use purposes in the district has achieved certain results, closely following the district’s annual land use planning and plans. However, there are still cases of unauthorized land use purpose conversions outside the planning and without permission from competent authorities. From 2021 to 2023, 12 cases of non-compliant land use and unauthorized agricultural land use purpose conversions were detected and addressed in the district.

4. Some Limitations in Land Rental and Agricultural Land Use Purpose Conversion

Besides the positive results, the work of land rental and agricultural land use purpose conversion in Nghĩa Hưng District still reveals several limitations as follows:

The implementation and execution of land law documents are sometimes slow and not close to reality. The work of propagandizing and disseminating agricultural land laws has not been carried out regularly and extensively, leading to violations such as unauthorized land use purpose conversions, land use planning violations; some land disputes, complaints, and improper land use have not been resolved definitively.

The coordination between levels and sectors in inspecting and checking the land use situation of subjects remains challenging; the handling of violations is still slow and ineffective, with insufficient focus on inspecting and supervising the land use of subjects. The resolution after inspections, checks, and complaints is still slow and not decisive for units violating land use during the land rental process.

The professional level of staff, especially at the commune level, remains limited; the rotation of staff leads to discontinuous monitoring and management of land changes, and land records, data, and documents are not well-managed, affecting the processing time of dossiers and procedures, and impacting the land use needs of the people.

5. Some Solutions to Enhance the Effectiveness of Land Rental and Agricultural Land Use Purpose Conversion

5.1. Strengthening Propaganda and Awareness of Land Law

Regularly update and disseminate information on models, advanced examples, and good practices in agricultural production and effective use of agricultural land. Propagate legal regulations on public land rental and agricultural land use purpose conversion to ensure that people understand their rights and obligations when implementing these contents.

5.2. Enhancing Management and Supervision

Promote the people’s and organizations’ rights to inspect and supervise the management and use of leased public land and agricultural land use purpose conversion according to the land use planning and plans to effectively manage and use agricultural land in the district.

5.3. Accelerating the Development of Land Database

Speed up the digital mapping of all communes and towns; develop a centralized, unified, synchronized, multi-purpose, and interconnected land data and information system to expedite administrative procedures related to land and enhance transparency in land access for residents.

IV. CONCLUSION

To effectively utilize agricultural land through public land rental and agricultural land use purpose conversion, it is necessary to mobilize all levels and sectors for flexible coordination, improve the professional qualifications of staff, and involve the public from the planning stages to recognizing the importance of agricultural land as a vital national production resource.

References

1. Nghĩa Hưng District Land Registration Branch (2021, 2022, 2023). Land Statistics Reports for 2021, 2022, and 2023 in Nghĩa Hưng District.
2. Nghĩa Hưng District Department of Natural Resources and Environment (2021, 2022, 2023). Land Management Reports for 2021, 2022, and 2023 in Nghĩa Hưng District.
3. People’s Committee of Nghĩa Hưng District (2022). Statistical Yearbook for 2022 in Nghĩa Hưng District.
4. People’s Committee of Nam Định Province (2021, 2022, 2023). Reports on Socio-Economic Development Task Implementation for 2021, 2022, and 2023.
5. Nghĩa Hưng District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (2021, 2022, 2023). Summary Reports on Agricultural Production Situation for 2021, 2022, and 2023 in Nghĩa Hưng District.

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