Contenu du sommaire : Fleuve Rouge.

The End of Cooperatives : Agricultural Decollectivization in North Vietnam. In North Vietnam, decollectivization is generally considered to have begun in 1988, but it was already going in this direction, to all intents and purposes and without the regime accepting it ideologically, since 1981. Earlier, collectivization had achieved considerable technological progress, but that it had ended in an economic failure was apparent as early as 1976, although the hope that the Great Socialist Agriculture would soon come into existence was maintained throughout the 1976-1980 period. The reforms of 1981 had the result of reapportioning the land to the advantage of families and also led to a strong liberalization of production itself. They do not, however, constitute a completed decollectivization program since the markets remained tightly controlled by the State. It was not until 1988, with «Khoan (Resolution) n°10», then in 1989 with the freeing of the markets, and finally in 1993, with the last real estate reform, that Vietnam completed its decollectivization program, thus eliminating its cooperatives.

Tam Dao, from the Mountain as Shelter to the Coveted Mountain. After a presentation of the physical characteristics and the human settlement of Tam Dao, the causes of the present accelerated degradation of the mountainous environment and its repercussions in the surrounding plain are examined. It appears that the primary cause is the recent change in the economic policy that the Vietnamian government has adopted.

Changes in Vietnamese Agriculture in a District of the Red River Delta. After a brief review of political and economic changes in the rural areas of North Vietnam from 1954 to 1980, this article analyses the different strategies followed by peasants after the process of renovation that was launched in the Vietnamian countrysides in the early 80"s. Those reforms increased production and encouraged private initiative. However, new problems now appear and affect a situation that has been rendered precarious because of a serious lack of agricultural land in the plains. Recently, in a context where market economy is dominant, the former existing social categories are being emphasized, and the appropriation of marginal areas seems to be a necessary step in order to satisfy the needs of peasant households.

Agrarian Policies and Peasant Strategies in a Fragile Environment : the Tam Dao Piedmont, Vietnam. For several years now North Vietnam has been experiencing a fast revival. The changes in agrarian policies have led to important mutations in the peasant world, for a new deal as regards the rural economy. The dynamics of a set of two villages in the piedmont give an idea of the reactions of peasants to the new policy orientations. As peasant strategies readapt, the changes in the agrarian system have an effect both on the physical as well as the socio-economic environment. On the development roads, the new strategies leave their mark under the more supple guidance of the State.

Animal Raising in North Vietnam ; From Collectivism to Decollectivisation. Vietnam, with 80% of its population rural, remains above all an agricultural country. Although growth continues uninterruptedly since 1986, the quality of Vietnamese agriculture is still that of a poor nation, furnishing barely 300 kgs of food per person per year. If animal raising is an integral part of this activity, it is mainly intended to supply traction power and manure in order to increase crop production rather than for food purposes. Must one, in order to explain this situation, question the collectivist system that was applied in Vietnam for nearly forty years ? The example of the continued use of oxen and buffalo in the commune of Minh Quang, North Vietnam, ever since 1956 provides an insight into the risks and errors of the system. On the other hand, an analysis of the present revival program, thanks especially to VAC (an abbreviation for garden-orchard-fish ponds-animal raising) demonstrates how a return to private family farming can be stimulating.

Identifying Morphopedologic Units in the Delta of the Red River, Upstream from Hanoi, Vietnam, by Remote Sensing. Following the agreement by National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) France and CNRS Vietnam to cooperate on studies pertaining to the Red River Delta, the picture-taking satellite SPOT, positioned upstream from Ha Noi,was used to obtain countless remote sensing regarding the dynamics of the river, that of the natural environment, and the changes in the agrarian systems. Several maps incorporating the data obtained were drawn and presented at the Congress on the Red RiverDelta held in Hanoï in April, 1994. We present here the 5 morphopedologic mega-units established thanks to the comparison with topographic, pédologie and geologic maps, aerial photographs and the numeric an ?' y ses effected by SPOT pictures in 1987. This comparison, associated with verification in the field and a check of the agricultural calendar, enables one to realize the great interest there is to use this excellent teledetection tool for the drawing up of morphopedologic units that highlight the dynamics of landscapes and the occupation of soils at a particular date. In the sector studied Northwest of Hanoi, the picture treatments that have been obtained enable one to envisage the possibility of developing the lowlands that are subject to floods.

Summary : Duong Lam, a Commune in the Red RiverDelta, North Vietnam. The creation by the revolutionary regime of new communes to replace the old townships has caused a real territorial and administrative upheaval : all the political, economic and cultural powers, without omitting the military, are now situated in the communes (the territories of which are two to three times smaller than was the case in the old townships) to the disadvantage of the villages, stripped, because of this fact, of all their traditional strustures and activities. Apart from this change of township to commune, the article gives the organization of the housing and village space in the commune of Duong Lam, which, after forty years of existence, has forged for itself an identity all the more striking in that there is a distinct continuity between this commune and the former township of Cam Gia Thinh, of which it is the transformation.

Rice Growing and Recent Changes in Agricultural Practices in North Vietnam. In Vietnam, where 70% of the population is rural, the level of rice production remains an important economic indicator. Strong demographic growth tends to absorb the progress achieved in rice growing. The Mekong Delta in the South and the Red River Delta in the North contain most of the agricultural resources in Vietnam as well as the bulk of its population ; the changes in these two deltas have been markedly different. In the North, collectivism, begun in 1955, had a greater influence on the agricultural sector. In the 80"s, the government started a fast decollectivization program. In 1988, the agricultural production system was given back to the peasants. Production related structures were returned to the private sector. Highly important changes occurred during 1990-1993 period. The French Red River Program witnessed these changes by means of an agronomic survey of some family fields in two communes of the Red River Delta. Some agricultural methods were quickly modified by the farmers and output increased. The standard of living of farm families improved, and matters were made easier for people entering farming. Still, free agricultural practices may become detrimental to productivity because the paddy fields are spread over vast areas, thus justifying a community management of some aspects of rice growing, for example, hydraulic facilities and crop protection measures.