Agricultural processing enterprises in Vinh Phuc complain that the more they work, the more they lose because... "even potato knives have to be imported"

That is the concern and thought of the representative of Dung Dat Agricultural Investment and Development Company Limited (Vinh Phuc) sent to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan at the "Forum connecting scientific and technological products of the agricultural sector with enterprises, cooperatives, and people", on the afternoon of July 10.

Doanh nghiệp chế biến nông sản ở Vĩnh Phúc than càng làm càng lỗ vì... — Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan chaired the "Forum connecting agricultural science and technology products with businesses, cooperatives, and people" on the afternoon of July 10. Photo: Tung Dinh

Lack and weakness in processing

According to this enterprise, the agricultural sector is very broad, including livestock, cultivation, veterinary medicine, processing... There are many enterprises doing well in many fields, but we are especially interested in agricultural processing. Not only in Vinh Phuc, cultivation is still limited, and a lot of winter fields are abandoned. The driving force to pull the agricultural sector up is cultivation and processing. Our enterprise is small, with annual revenue of only a few tens of billions. But this number is very large for cultivation while having to process a lot of products.

"For example, potatoes, our business is doing. The sad thing is that the more Vietnamese potatoes are grown, the more they lose... because we lack processing," said a representative of Dung Dat Agricultural Investment and Development Company Limited. For example, 100% of potatoes supplied to restaurants and hotels for BBQ are imported at a price of at least 50,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, farmers can only sell them for a few thousand VND/kg. Even small potatoes like serrated knives used to process potatoes must be imported. How can we compete like that?

According to the business, to be as big as Dong Giao Group, you need technology and capital, other businesses will find it difficult to follow. We think we need to make products that are well-processed like in Korea, so that you can eat them right away, because everything is already processed.

"Potatoes also need codes, like other products. Our goal is for farmers to be rich but not abandon their fields. We really hope that scientists will proactively contact us so that we can promote processing," said a representative of Dung Dat Agricultural Investment and Development Company Limited.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung, Director of Toan Cau Food Import-Export Company Limited, stated the reality that businesses and people have many ideas and products on the market, but in reality, manufacturing businesses have not met the demand and scientists have not had access to information sources.

To make the coordination between people, businesses and scientists "closer", Mr. Hung said that it is necessary to build an open space, a forum for farmers and businesses to put forward ideas, scientists can base on that for research. On the other hand, when research is deployed and published on that database, farmers can find information and proactively approach it.

“In reality, people and businesses are not interested in the research results in general because the benefits of people and businesses are not high. It is necessary to make transparent the assessment of the standard system, so that when products are put on the market, it can help businesses increase the value of their products and people can enjoy the right quality,” said Mr. Hung.

As one of the cooperatives that successfully applied science and technology to agricultural production and processing, Mr. Tran Trung Duc, Director of Viba Banana Cooperative (Hoa Binh) said that currently all conditions are far behind competitors in exporting banana products. However, the only thing to "survive" as it is now is knowing how to apply science and technology to production and processing.

The first product of Viba Banana Cooperative that applied science and technology was banana vinegar. In 2015, the use of chemicals to ferment bananas and other fruits was common. This made consumers very worried. Mr. Duc was in the banana business at that time, so he looked for foreign documents to read, not thinking that Vietnam had them. He accidentally came across Vietnamese documents and let the Cooperative apply them immediately.

“We started out as a fruit supplier, so we understand the market. When we had good sales, we turned around and developed the growing area. The first variety we knew was the tissue-cultured non-GMO pink banana variety. The product was researched and produced by the Central Institute of Vegetables and Fruits, providing high and consistent quality,” said Mr. Duc. Currently, pink bananas are grown on farms in Hoa Binh and Hung Yen, following the VietGAP growing process.

Sharing about his future plans, Mr. Duc said that after about 2-3 years, the banana trees on the old land will lose productivity. Therefore, the cooperative established another company, connecting with other businesses to purchase, grow, process and preserve.

According to Mr. Duc, bringing a product to market is a long process, and it is always necessary to discuss with scientists. When consumers change their requirements, businesses must respond. To edit the product, scientists are needed. They are companions, real companions, not just signing a contract and that's it.

“We also want to expand into the world market, not limited to the domestic market. As a small business, without much capital, time, or resources, we want to have sample products from research institutes so that we can adjust and calculate customer needs faster,” said Mr. Duc.

Solving business - scientist problems

Answering the question of how to bring businesses and scientists together right from the beginning, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the market is the “midwife” for scientific research topics. “Without the market, it is impossible to apply these studies to production. Each business has its own goals and orientations, so they are the practical customers.

As for the state funding, orders are usually to solve macro-level problems, such as handling drought and salinity, climate change, etc. Enterprises are the units that need real resources. In recent years, enterprises are willing to allocate from their development funds for research work. Therefore, placing private orders from enterprises for researchers and scientists is very important. Handshake from the beginning is extremely important to achieve success.

Dr. Nguyen Cong Tiep, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture, said that the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture is currently the leading unit in research and teaching, with the motto of both training and research. Besides training, which is an important task, the Academy strengthens research activities with the motto of researching what the market needs.

Over the past 10 years, Vietnam Academy of Agriculture has had 53 products registered for intellectual property; 163 products with potential for commercialization; and published nearly 3,000 scientific and technological articles in magazines around the world.

To have resources for scientific research, the Agricultural Academy has increased the form of socialization to call for investment capital for research projects of group 1 to perfect technology that can be coordinated with cooperatives, businesses, and producers.

Vietnam Academy of Agriculture is currently cooperating and joint venture with about 200 domestic and foreign enterprises, such as partners from Korea to coordinate research on potato varieties; Hanoi Livestock Breeding Company to import 3B breeding cows...

“We advocate researching topics that meet practical needs. Cooperatives, businesses, manufacturers, etc., please place orders with the Academy so that we can apply our research to increase the value of agricultural products,” Dr. Nguyen Cong Tiep invited.

Speaking at the Forum, Minister Le Minh Hoan said that it is necessary to “cooperate to connect” and understand the concept of “Science and Technology Market”. “Why should we call it a market? The market is a meeting place between supply and demand. People say that a market needs hundreds of sellers and thousands of buyers, not just a few sellers. The market will have competition, creating motivation for better work. Bad products will be eliminated. Those who cannot sell their products will question themselves, so they have to improve and do better”, the Minister noted.

According to the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the elimination of the market will be an improvement in all aspects. Enterprises have the right to choose many research institutes, and vice versa, research institutes also have the right to choose many enterprises. That is supply and demand. If we only stop at linking, it will be difficult to go far.

We must think and do better. The Prime Minister has also directed the development of science and technology. Without science and technology, we are in trouble, we are falling into the trap of "self-satisfaction". We must think about whether we can do better, whether we can innovate. What is new today, in a few years, must be improved again.

A research institute standing alone does not understand the market, this step requires businesses. Therefore, cooperation and association have a much deeper meaning than just the word "capital". We must escape the idea that "we are the best". Thinking like that is a failure. Our products are not the final product. The world has researched green transformation, green emissions...

Source: https://danviet.vn/doanh-nghiep-che-bien-nong-san-o-vinh-phuc-than-cang-lam-cang-lo-vi-dao-cat-khoai-tay-cung-phai-nhap-khau-2024071018151389.htm