Unlocking the Potential: Embracing the Fusion of Agricultural Land with Homestay and Farmstay Experiences

“Unlocking” Agricultural Land’s Potential

Nguyen Van Dinh, a real estate legal expert, believes that the current situation of agricultural land is often wasted due to abandonment. He hopes that the 2024 Land Law will “unlock” the potential of this land.

Mr. Dinh gives a typical example of when people combine agricultural land with aquaculture or other business models. Although it is not the intended use, shrimp farming can bring in 30 times the revenue of rice farming, so people will find a way to make it work.

In another case, combining rice farming with business models like cafe farms can bring multiple benefits. Monthly revenue can surpass that of rice farming for the entire year, but due to a lack of legal framework, this practice is considered illegal. Meanwhile, some poorer provinces have allowed the development of golf courses, urban areas, and industrial zones, which has led to their economic growth.

According to Mr. Dinh, rice farming is crucial for ensuring national food security, but rice farmers need a mechanism to protect their interests. He highly appreciates the balanced development focus of the 2024 Land Law. Notably, it includes provincial planning for rice farming to preserve rice fields and provides tools for budget regulation to support these provinces.

The 2024 Land Law also permits people to use agricultural land for combined rice farming and business activities. However, they must present their plans to the managing authorities to ensure strict control when using agricultural land for commercial services. This way, a harmonious balance of interests can be achieved among individuals, the state, and the community. When individuals benefit from using land for commercial services, they should contribute a portion of their earnings to the state budget.

A critical issue is how to combine agricultural land with business activities while preventing the illegal conversion of land use for concrete buildings, which would make it impossible to restore the land to its original rice-growing state. This is a delicate balance between permitted land use combinations and illegal land use conversion.

Using Agricultural Land for Homestay and Farmstay Businesses

Regarding the rampant and unplanned development of homestay and farmstay businesses, Mr. Le Van Binh, Deputy Director of the Land Department (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), shared his personal perspective. There are two approaches to implementing these models. The first is when agricultural producers use their land for tourism purposes, and the second is when tourism land is used for agricultural purposes, which falls under commercial land use.

The 2024 Land Law clearly states in Article 218 that agricultural land can be used for multiple purposes to increase income, but only for combined purposes. The primary purpose remains agricultural, and there should be no change in land use.

According to Clause 1, Article 218 of the 2024 Land Law, the use of land for multiple purposes includes combining agricultural land with commercial, service, livestock, and medicinal plant cultivation activities.

The use of land for multiple purposes must meet certain requirements, such as not changing the land type as classified and specified in relevant land documents, not compromising the conditions necessary to revert the land to its primary use, not impacting national defense and security, minimizing ecological and biodiversity conservation and environmental landscape impacts, not affecting the use of adjacent land plots, fulfilling financial obligations, and complying with relevant laws.