To meet a rapid growth of demand for agricultural products modernization of agriculture in Vietnam is indispensable. That is because there are now important socio-economic constraints to increasing agricultural production in the traditional mixed smallholder systems, although they have been reasonably productive and inherently sustainable. However, introduction of modern technologies in agricultural production for higher productivity may, on the other hand, result in consequences that are not in line with sustainable development targets such as alleviation of poverty, creation of jobs, more equitable life styles, protection of the environment, and conservation of biodiversity. This warrants search for appropriate ways of agricultural modernization coupled with sustainable rural development. The present paper comes up with a conceptual framework for development of management, technical and policy approaches toward appropriate modernization of agriculture without the dilemma between unsustainable high productivity and low-productive sustainability. R & D orientations are then proposed to achieve the targets of both agricultural modernization and rural development in the country. | Agricultural modernization in conjunction with rural development in Vietnam
