Analysis on the structure of households’ income shows that not all farmers’ income is from agriculture. Table 5.11 shows there is up to 25% of households whose income from agriculture only accounts for 10-40% of the total households’ income. In addition, only 14% of households said that their income is 100% from agriculture. This figure is equivalent with evaluation of farmers about their sources of income as mentioned in the analysis from data in table 5.3.
Table 5.11. Percentage of income from agricultural production by locations Percentage of income from
Source: Data is collected from the own survey in 2009.
In three surveyed provinces, Thaibinh is the province where agriculture is the main source for income of farmers, (Table 5.11) where 52.17% (13/23) of total farmers’ households in this province have the revenues from agriculture accounted for 70-100% of household income. However in Haiphong and Hungyen it only accounted for 38.24% (13/34) and 39.29% (11/28) respectively. In other words, the number of households with the lowest proportion of agricultural income in Haiphong is highest (there are 11 households in Haiphong whose income from agriculture is accounted only 10-30% of household income), and in Thaibinh is lowest (only 3 households).
Thus, the survey shows the differentiation in agricultural density in various localities within the RRD. In these regions, the proportion of agricultural households (42.35% 36/85)
whose income from agriculture makes up between 70-100% of the total income. This number should be taken into account during policy decision making processes and provide feedback to encourage the application of innovative advancement in agricultural production in the delta. These figures highlight that agriculture is still quite beneficial to the region (14.1% of households said that 100% of their income comes from agriculture).
Despite these other economic sectors are also relatively well developed in the region, enabling farmers to diversify sources of income. In this context, developing a modern agriculture, highly specialised and focused towards commodity production, is necessary. In addition, when agricultural development in harmony with economic sectors it will allow the sustainable development of the region to occur.
Table 5.12. Statistical number of farmers in the relation between Total income of household in 2009 and Percentage of income from agricultural activities
Mil. VND Percentage of income from agricultural activities
Total Source: Data is collected from the own survey in 2009.
In the distribution of agricultural income of farmers’ by sector, the number of households whose income is mostly from cultivation is 48/85 or 56.5% of the total households, whereas the livestock accounts for 11/85 or 12.9% of the total. Furthermore, there were 26/85 (30.6 %) households, which had an income from a mix of cultivation and livestock.
Examining the values of their income, the cultivation households achieved the lowest revenue whereas the farms which had a mix of cultivation and livestock households, had
the highest income, with the income from livestock falling in between. In fact, the mix households take advantage of the strengths of cultivation and animal husbandry to complement each other. For example, animal waste is used as organic fertiliser for plants and other supplemental products of cultivation could be used as food for livestock.
However, specialising on cultivation, livestock or having a mix between the two does not only depend on the personal preferences of farmers but also on the conditions, capabilities and expertise of the households. With the average agricultural area per person becoming increasingly limited, the development of cultivation has been more circumscribed.
Furthermore, the high population density and inability to convert arable land for other purposes in coupled with the large amount of capital requirements for investment have also limited the development of livestock. In addition, the risks of uncontrollable diseases and from the unpredictability of the market have also restricted the development of the livestock sector. Potential solutions for these problems could be planning in conjunction with generating opportunities for farmers to approach capital investment and strongly support of knowledge, market information, disseminating efficient models.
Picture 5.2. At a typical farmer's house Source. Own photo.
In the survey, the household with the highest income (135 million VND per year) is a mixed production household, in which 85% of their income came from agricultural production (Table 5.12). In this case, the farmer took the strengths of their production in cultivation, livestock and their supplement production. Furthermore, they were active in applying innovation for new products such as super-lean pigs, ducks for super eggs, high-quality rice, plus the agility of market information to make their products at high productivity, best quality and best prices. Many households in the locality have observed and adopted these experiments, and they all agreed on the effectiveness of these measures.
Examining the relationship between the ratio of income from agriculture and the income levels of households shows that most of the agricultural households (whose income from agriculture is a significant part of households’ income) have a low income. However, many households, which have a high income overall, only get a small proportion of their revenue from agriculture. Despite this, there are still many households who achieve a high income from agriculture. For instance, at an income of over 100 million VND/household/year, this type of household is 5/85 households, accounting for 6% of the total. In fact, these five households were active in applying innovative advancement in their production. This figure could reveal that if farmers focus on their agricultural production intensively using different measures applying innovations with the efficient support of extension services, they would achieve greater success in their production.