Science and technology help enhance the brand value of cooperative agricultural products

From production to processing, there is technology.

Thanks to the focus on applying science and technology, many cooperatives in Son La have now created competitiveness with other economic sectors, focusing on the function of providing products and services to member households and people.

With the direction of the Provincial Cooperative Union and local management agencies, cooperatives in Son La have continuously invested in equipment, materials, and infrastructure to adapt production to climate change and increase income for members.

Investing in technology and implementing digital transformation has helped cooperatives build many closed value chains. Production management and product quality control when reaching consumers are also more convenient.

Developing vegetable cultivation in the direction of commodities with the guidance of cooperatives is helping Son La people increase their income and sustainably reduce poverty.

In particular, many cooperatives have introduced mechanization into agricultural production, for example: Nong Xanh Cooperative, applying safe vegetable production technology and investing in cooling technology to preserve vegetables. Or Bao Minh Agricultural Cooperative applies biotechnology to fruit tree production and uses heat press ovens to dry agricultural products.

According to the Board of Directors of Nong Xanh Cooperative, since the cooperative has a cold storage, after harvesting vegetables in the morning, members will put them in the cooling warehouse to process and package them in the afternoon, and transport them to different places. By doing so, the temperature is relatively stable, helping the vegetables stay fresher and the loss rate is lower.

The application of science and technology in the production, processing and preservation of agricultural products in cooperatives in Son La province has created a source of clean agricultural products, increasing competitiveness in the market. Thereby, contributing to increasing economic value and developing safe agricultural products in a sustainable manner.

Fish sauce production using enzyme technology

Not only applying technology to vegetable and fruit production, many cooperatives in the province are also quick to change production, apply technology to expand production, and take advantage of local potential in the field of aquaculture.

Typically, Xuan Hai Mechanical Cooperative has been supported by the Center for Biotechnology and Food Technology (Hanoi) to produce fish sauce from ditch fish in the Quynh Nhai hydroelectric reservoir using the Enzyme method. This is an advanced technology that has created a traditional fish sauce product typical of Quynh Nhai, with good quality, meeting the demand for clean food.

Mr. Tong Van Hai, Director of Xuan Hai Mechanical Cooperative, shared that the current production scale of the cooperative is 1 ton of raw materials/batch, the cooperative's fish sauce products have been granted a food hygiene and safety certificate by the Department of Health, and are sold at the district OCOP product introduction center and markets and shopping centers inside and outside the province.

Fish sauce products of Xuan Hai Mechanical Cooperative, Chieng Bang Commune, Quynh Nhai.

In addition to the above model, Son La province also supports 10 other cooperatives to apply and evaluate the certification of safe agricultural production systems according to VietGAP standards; supports the Green Agriculture Cooperative 26-3 on the technical process "Applying scientific and technical advances to build a model of producing high-quality tomatoes and yellow melons according to VietGAP in Son La province".

It can be seen that some projects applying scientific and technological advances in cooperatives not only improve production efficiency, but also help cooperatives have conditions to carry out research tasks to apply scientific and technological tasks, serving key products in the value chain with export potential.

Besides, the application of science and technology in local conditions that are promoting the development of agricultural production towards commodities as it is now is very suitable, aiming to create a sustainable value chain and attract associated businesses.

Through the models of applying science and technology of cooperatives, it has helped to strongly change farmers' awareness of agricultural commodity production, linking production with processing and product consumption, contributing to promoting agricultural development, while building and affirming the brand of Son La agricultural products.

SOUTH

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