Enhancing the value of Dien Bien rice products

Noong Het is a basin commune in Dien Bien district with many advantages to develop high-quality rice production. However, before 2020, people in Noong Het commune still maintained the household-scale production method. Rice products were sold to local rice milling service businesses. Therefore, the quality and value have not been improved, and the Dien Bien rice brand has not been upgraded.

Since 2020, the People's Committee of Noong Het commune has focused on attracting investment, encouraging cooperatives to cooperate with people to form concentrated production areas. Cooperatives invest in processing and preservation technology and are responsible for consuming products in markets outside the province, increasing value and gradually building product brands. Up to now, in Noong Het commune, 2 production linkages and 2 concentrated high-quality rice production areas have been formed; the production area has continuously increased over the years.

In 2020, Tam Thien Cooperative started to build a high-quality rice production linkage in Noong Het commune. From an initial area of 5 hectares, after 3 years of implementation, the cooperative has expanded to more than 50 hectares.

Tam Thien Cooperative builds concentrated production areas to facilitate mechanization, care and harvesting.

Ms. Tran Thi Huong Que, Director of Tam Thien Cooperative, said: The linked area only produces one variety of Seng Cu rice. The cooperative links production with households whose fields are close together, creating a concentrated production area for convenient application of mechanization, care and harvesting. After 3 years of implementation, in 2022, Tam Thien rice products were recognized as meeting OCOP standards with a 3-star rating. OCOP product certification is like a "passport" to help increase product value and expand the consumption market.

Dien Bien Dong district is famous for its sticky rice products. Although it has a certain position in the market, the product coverage is very narrow. The main reason is that the production area is small and fragmented, not meeting the market demand. Therefore, in recent years, Dien Bien Dong district has made efforts to expand the area towards concentrated production.

Luan Gioi commune has a flat rice field area, a solidly invested and quite synchronous irrigation system, and is the commune chosen by Dien Bien Dong district to develop a sticky rice linkage area. Previously, sticky rice in Luan Gioi was only produced by people with a small area of about 500 - 1,000m2/household, just enough to serve family needs. In 2022 - 2023, Anh Tho Cooperative (Luan Gioi commune) implemented a sticky rice production linkage model with a scale of 50ha. After 2 years of implementation, the product material area was stable, the products achieved high productivity and quality and were recognized as 3-star OCOP products by the OCOP Product Evaluation and Classification Council of Dien Bien Dong district.

Leaders of Luan Gioi Commune People's Committee inspected and evaluated the model of linking production of sticky rice in the area.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, Director of Anh Tho Luan Gioi Cooperative, said: The current raw material area for sticky rice products is still too small compared to market demand. In the coming years, the Cooperative will continue to mobilize and encourage people to participate in the sticky rice production linkage model. From there, creating a larger raw material area, meeting customer demand. In addition, to increase product value, the Cooperative will continue to invest in technology for processing, preserving and packaging products to produce quality rice grains, gradually restoring the Dien Bien Dong sticky rice brand in the domestic and foreign markets.

Currently, localities are focusing on exploiting the potential and advantages of rice production, building linkages and expanding specialized production areas. However, for production linkages to operate sustainably, timely and appropriate support policies and mechanisms are needed.

For the two products Tam Thien rice and Luan Gioi sticky rice, authorities at all levels from commune to district always prioritize supporting associated entities in production, introduction, promotion and trade promotion, especially in building products that meet OCOP standards.

High quality rice products are sold at the OCOP product display and sales point, typical rural industrial products, agricultural products, and regional specialties of Dien Bien province.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hue, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Bien Dong district, said: Dien Bien Dong district always prioritizes the integration of policies and common capital sources to develop the production area of tan sticky rice in Luan Gioi. The district People's Committee directs specialized departments to provide maximum support to the joint entities to successfully build products that meet OCOP standards. This is a premise for the product to reach out to markets outside the province. The district People's Committee also coordinates with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Industry and Trade to introduce and promote Luan Gioi tan sticky rice products at trade promotion conferences nationwide.

Similarly, Dien Bien district has been prioritizing resources and policies to develop specialized high-quality rice production areas in Muong Thanh fields. Currently, all communes in the Muong Thanh basin have built at least one high-quality rice production linkage.

Many rice products linked in the value chain were recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as typical rural industrial products at the provincial level in 2023.

Mr. Chu Van Bach, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Bien district, said: Enterprises need to actively cooperate with farmers, expand production scale according to the new cooperative model, build standard rice production material areas. Thereby, develop a chain of linkages in production and consumption of rice effectively and sustainably. Dien Bien district People's Committee is actively attracting investment, inviting enterprises to invest in rice production projects in Muong Thanh field. In addition to promoting internal resources, Dien Bien district continues to propose to the province to issue policies to support the development of linkages in the production of high-quality rice in the area.

Muong Thanh field, over 4,100 hectares wide, is an ideal raw material area, attracting investors in the field of high-quality rice production.

In recent years, Dien Bien province has had timely and appropriate policies to develop rice production areas according to the value chain. Currently, the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee are studying to issue resolutions and decisions on new mechanisms and policies to support agricultural development associated with new rural construction and restructuring of the agricultural sector, including the important content of supporting the development of rice production areas according to sustainable value chains.

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