Developing OCOP products associated with building agricultural raw material areas

Cocoa products with 4-star OCOP certification of Trong Duc Cocoa Company Limited, Dinh Quan district. Photo: B.NGUYEN

In recent times, localities in the province have focused on developing key products associated with growing areas. As a result, many OCOP products not only meet the domestic market but also meet export standards to demanding markets.

Building agricultural product brands

The orientation of agricultural production development in the new period must be associated with large-scale commodities, attracting investment in processing to have sustainable output. Accordingly, localities in the province have focused on planning and forming many specialized areas for crops with high economic efficiency such as durian, mango, red-fleshed dragon fruit, pepper, cocoa... Among them, there is no shortage of specialized areas that meet VietGAP, GlobalGAP standards, produce in an organic direction, apply high technology, and are granted export-standard growing area codes.

In conjunction with the new rural development program, localities have mobilized and focused resources on investing in infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and water to serve production. Thereby, forming areas for growing local agricultural products on a large scale.

The goal set for 2025 is for the whole province to have 45 more products certified with OCOP 3 stars or higher. Localities in the province focus on propaganda and trade promotion activities associated with inspection and evaluation of OCOP product quality. Thereby, affirming that OCOP products are prestigious, high-quality branded goods with high competitiveness when participating in domestic and export markets.

Specifically, up to now, the province has determined the space and orientation for the development of production areas in the Provincial Planning, as a basis for allocating public investment capital, calling for and attracting investment in agriculture associated with the orientation of developing high-tech agriculture and sustainable agriculture with 321 concentrated production areas, with a scale of nearly 95.7 thousand hectares. Of which, there are 10 high-tech agricultural areas with a scale of nearly 11.9 thousand hectares and 8 areas eligible for organic agricultural production with a scale of 4.4 thousand hectares.

The year 2024 marks the impressive growth of the OCOP Program in both quantity and quality. This result has brought Dong Nai to the top in the number of OCOP products in the Southeast region. Notably, in 2024, all 11/11 districts and cities in the province focused on developing both the quantity and quality of OCOP products. As a result, the whole province has 109 more OCOP products of 64 entities, exceeding 253% of the plan of 43 products. This year, the whole province has 7 entities with 17 products achieving 4-star OCOP certification. Up to now, the whole province has 282 OCOP products of 165 entities recognized as achieving 3 stars or more. Of which, 228 products achieved 3-star OCOP; 54 products achieved 4 stars, exceeding 45% of the planned target by 2025.

Forming international brands

With an area of ​​nearly 14,600 hectares, Dong Nai has one of the largest banana export areas in the country. Localities with large banana growing areas in the province have all formed large-scale specialized cultivation areas, applying new techniques and technologies to production according to the chain from production to consumption. In particular, OCOP products processed from banana materials not only meet domestic market standards, but also aim to find a foothold in the international market.

OCOP coffee products of Tan Phu district. Photo: BINH NGUYEN

A typical example is Thanh Binh Cooperative in Thanh Binh Commune (Trang Bom District) with an area of ​​about 120 hectares of bananas meeting export standards to major markets such as China, Korea, etc.

Director of Thanh Binh Cooperative Ly Minh Hung shared that, in addition to investing in building a large-scale banana growing area according to a closed process with waste and by-products in production being used as fertilizer for banana gardens, the cooperative is also a pioneer in researching the use of by-products that are usually discarded such as: banana stems, fibers, dried banana fibers as raw materials for consumer products, environmentally friendly handicraft products. In addition to exporting fresh bananas, the cooperative invests in primary processing and processing facilities along with a banana harvesting chain system, dry agricultural product processing machines, flexible processing machines for agricultural products, and a cold storage system to make processed products from bananas. The cooperative certifies OCOP for a number of processed products with the goal of building an agricultural product brand not only for domestic consumption but also to promote exports.

In addition, the province's key agricultural products such as durian, pepper, cocoa, grapefruit, etc. are all planned for many large-scale specialized areas associated with processing. In particular, cooperatives and processing enterprises certify OCOP for the above products, building agricultural product brands to participate in the global supply chain.

According to Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Tran Lam Sinh, localities prioritize synchronous investment in technical infrastructure for large-scale specialized areas. Accordingly, specialized areas have the conditions to apply many technical advances in production. Agricultural products are gradually being improved in both technical standards and commodity standards, applying good agricultural production practices. In particular, OCOP is an effective program to attract investment in processing key local agricultural products associated with building product brands with a diversity of quantity and quality of products that are increasingly improved, meeting the requirements of the domestic and export markets.

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202503/phat-trien-san-pham-ocop-gan-voi-xay-dungvung-nguyen-lieu-nong-san-e71782b/