Hanoi (VNA) – The General Statistics Office ofVietnam (GSO) held a press conference in Hanoi on October 9 to announce theRural, Agricultural and Fishery Census 2016.

Speaking at the event, GSO Deputy Director General PhamQuang Vinh said the survey reflects socio-economic performance in rural areasand agro-forestry-fisheries production 2011-2016

Nguyen Thi Huong, head of the GSO’s Agricultural, Forestryand Fishery Statistics, said the survey polled nearly 16 million rural and morethan 1 million urban households involving in agro-forestry-fisheries in 8,978communes and 79,898 villages. It also acquired feedback from enterprises andcooperatives in the field.

During 2011-2016, the rate of communes given access toelectricity rose from 99.8 percent in 2011 to 100 percent in 2016. As many as28 centrally-run cities and provinces nationwide brought electricity tovillages.

Last year, up to 3,210 communes and 19,500 households hadwastewater drainage systems, accounting for 35.8 percent of the total communesand 24.4 percent of the total villages.

As many as 1,806 communes, or 20.1 percent of the total,were home to banks, branches and people’s trust funds.

Irrigational systems and agro-fisheries encouragementnetworks were strengthened in localities while traditional markets boostedtrade in rural areas.

In 2016, there were 8.58 million households working inagro-forestry-fisheries, equivalent to 53.7 percent of the total, down 8.5percentage point from 2011. Meanwhile, 6.4 million households worked innon-agro, forestry and fisheries, or 40 percent of the total and up 6.6 percentagepoint.

Vinh said infrastructure and workforce quality in severallocalities remain poor, particularly in remote and mountainous areas. Technologicalapplication and mechanisation are still limited due to small production scale.-VNA