Ho Chi Minh City has planned to pump17 trillion Vietnamese dong (VND) (1.13 billion US dollars) into agricultural development projects by 2005, in a bid to bolster the rural economy and improve life in the city's suburban districts.

The investment plan will focus on upgrading agricultural infrastructure, promoting applications of advanced farming technology, restructuring the farm economy and offering incentives for local farmers, according to a Vietnam News report on Wednesday.

Of the total investment, 13.5 trillion VND (900 million US dollars) will be spent on upgrading agricultural infrastructure. The fund will be exclusively reserved for the most disadvantaged communes in the city's suburban districts.

Major programs will promote high-quality crop strains and animal hybrids, organic vegetable growing, and the dairy and shrimp farming sectors, it said.

To improve rural lives, Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest economic hub of Vietnam, will increase its spending on building new classrooms, opening job training classes for rural youths, improving local health care networks and infrastructure projects such as clean water supplies and rural electrification programs.

By 2005, agricultural production of the city is expected to be 1.5 times its level in 2000 and 99 percent of farming households to access to electricity and 90 percent to running water.