Farmers in a north-central Vietnamese province have been asked to pay a ‘meadow-using fee’ for their cattle to graze in local fields, and an ‘upfront deposit’ purportedly meant to ensure the animals will not destroy nearby crops.

Minh Anh, an agriculture cooperative located in Thieu Duong Commune, Thanh Hoa Province, sets the ‘meadow-using fee’ at VND100,000 (US$4.4) per cow or water buffalo per year, whereas the ‘deposit’ ranges from VND300,000 ($13) to VND500,000 ($22), depending on the size of the herd.

Those who refuse to pay the fees would be forbidden from letting their cattle graze in or around local fields, farmers said, adding that they have strongly protested against the charges, but all efforts went in vain.

Duong Dinh Minh, the cooperative director, confirmed the collection of the two fees to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Minh said the second fee was collected as a refundable deposit, as farmers would get their money back at the end of every year if they manage to prevent their cattle from destroying local crops.

Water buffaloes graze in the fields in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The charge was put in place in December 2017, after several farmers had carelessly allowed their cattle to roam fields, usually causing damage to the crops.

The director underlined that the deposit collection was backed by members of the cooperative, and had been paid willingly.

However, Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy chairman of Thieu Duong Commune, told Tuoi Tre that it is against the law for the cooperative to levy those fees on farmers.

The Thieu Duong administration has required the cooperative to apologize to and give the money back to the locals within next week.

Higher-level officials are working with the cooperative and Thieu Duong authorities to strictly punish people involved in the case.

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