A preliminary investigation of Da Nang’s agriculture during the french rule (1888 - 1945)

Abstract

This research was carried out based on accessing archival sources and monographs issued from the time Da Nang became a French concession (1888) to the August Revolution in 1945. The finding result suggests that under the colonial period, Da Nang's agriculture experienced many profound changes. Da Nang was not a specialized agricultural area but agricultural production was promoted by the French colonial government because of the city’s role as an export hub for agricultural products in the Central region. That led to the birth of agencies that managed or supported agricultural production in Da Nang, such as the Indochina Bank Branch, Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture; Agriculture Protection Committee... Besides this positive direction, Da Nang's agriculture, however, suffered many injustices from the management mechanism of the French colonial government. With the purpose of exploiting colonial resources, the French government wanted to manipulate Da Nang's agriculture. As a result, it was fragmented, small in scale and backward in farming methods and techniques, just like the agricultural situation in the whole of Vietnam at that time.