Developing Hanoi OCOP products: Advantages from cultural capital and indigenous knowledge

Implementing the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program, in recent times, many farmers, cooperatives, and small businesses in Hanoi have exploited this advantage to develop OCOP products. Local raw materials combined with indigenous culture and farming knowledge have been and are improving products, bringing high economic value.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan (standing in the middle) visits the lotus silk scarf booth of Meritorious Artisan Phan Thi Thuan.

Cultural values ​​in each product Every year, when lotus season comes, the family of Mr. and Mrs. Ngo Van Xiem - Luu Thi Hien (Quang An ward, Tay Ho district) is busy harvesting and scenting lotus tea. Ms. Luu Thi Hien said: “Living in the Bach Diep lotus growing area, with the famous West Lake lotus scenting profession, my family submitted lotus scented tea products to the OCOP evaluation and classification competition and was recognized with 4 stars. To scent a kilo of delicious tea, there must be 1,500 Bach Diep lotus flowers combined with dried Thai Nguyen tea buds harvested “1 shrimp, 2 cloves” through 21 days with 7 times of lotus rice scenting and 7 times of drying. The more times the tea is scented, the more the lotus scent blends and the longer the fragrance lasts. Standard lotus tea has a green tea water, initially bitter, then sweet and has a gentle lotus scent, lingering in the mouth”. Since participating in the OCOP Program, the Hien Xiem brand lotus tea of ​​the family has become more known to customers. Also in Tay Ho district, Ms. Do Thu Thuy, a business owner of Do The Gia (Xuan La ward) brought moon cakes to participate in the OCOP program. Ms. Thuy said: “In the past, my grandfather and grandmother made many types of cakes and opened a shop in Hanoi's Old Quarter. My father and my aunts and uncles in the family are still following their father's career. I personally chose to develop a branch of my family's products, which is green rice flakes and products made from green rice flakes, such as: baked cakes with green rice flakes, sticky rice flakes and green rice flakes. I hope that my family's specialties will not only be delicious gifts, but also have the meaning of promoting Hanoi's culture"... According to Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Dinh Hoa, Hanoi is "the land of hundreds of crafts". Hanoi's traditional products and traditional crafts are crystallized from the talent of craftsmen and the thousand-year-old cultural traditions of the capital, the culture of Xu Doai and Son Nam Thuong town. In addition, Hanoi also has 1,136 active agricultural cooperatives, 1,695 farms, 149 maintained and developed linkage chains, and more than 164 high-tech application models. Hanoi also has more than 5,000 agricultural products with QR code traceability, along with hundreds of famous products such as Son Tay Mia chicken, Soc Son yellow sticky rice, Dai Thanh late longan (Quoc Oai), Thuong Mo yellow shrimp grapefruit (Dan Phuong)... These are typical and typical products that have been and are being exploited in Hanoi's OCOP Program. These specialties are "starred" by OCOP, both increasing economic value and helping to promote the regional culture of the thousand-year-old capital. Promoting the exploitation of advantages As one of the localities that has been successful in exploiting indigenous cultural values ​​to develop products, Vice Chairman of Tay Ho District People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Tinh shared: "Tay Ho always focuses on and identifies the OCOP Program as an important solution to develop the economy, improve income and quality of life of the people. Every year, the district issues specific plans, assigning detailed tasks to each department, office, and People's Committee of wards on developing OCOP products. To date, Tay Ho has had more than 40 OCOP products that have achieved city certification. OCOP products are present in all 8/8 wards of the district with typical products such as Tu Lien kumquat, Nhat Tan peach blossom, Quang Ba lotus tea, Phu Thuong sticky rice, moon cakes, spring rolls, green rice cakes..." Vice Chairman of Ba Vi District People's Committee Nguyen Duc Anh said that Ba Vi district has 7 mountainous communes with great potential for developing medicinal plants. Statistics show that the Ba Vi mountainous area has more than 500 medicinal herbs, many of which are used by the Dao and Muong people as medicine. In particular, Ba Vi commune has 3 villages, Hop Son, Hop Nhat, Yen Son, recognized as traditional medicine villages with about 80% of households participating. In particular, Tan Vien Son Nam Duoc Cooperative has successfully built 5 4-star OCOP products. "From that advantage, the district will continue to support people in collecting and preserving good remedies of the Ba Vi ethnic group to preserve and develop medicinal herbs; standardize products through the OCOP Program" - Mr. Duc Anh said. Along with the support of authorities at all levels when participating in the OCOP Program, subjects in Hanoi have devoted much effort to researching and developing products from local advantages. Meritorious Artisan Phan Thi Thuan (Phung Xa commune, My Duc district) said: "From the lotus tree, I know how to draw silk to make thread. However, at first, the productivity was very low and it took a lot of effort. From 2018 to 2020, I experimented with many models to improve the productivity and quality of silk. To have good silk materials, it is necessary to perfect the lotus growing process and apply science and technology to the production process. With meticulousness and care, durable, beautiful and unique lotus silk sheets were born; in which, lotus silk scarves have been evaluated and classified as having 5-star OCOP potential. According to Mr. Ngo Van Ngon, Deputy Chief of Office of the Office of the Coordination of the New Rural Development Program of Hanoi City, each OCOP product is a "cultural ambassador" of a specific locality, representing the traditions, customs and living habits of the people of the capital. Therefore, it is very necessary to fully exploit the elements that represent the indigenous cultural values ​​crystallized in OCOP products to introduce to tourists. To preserve and promote the cultural values ​​of OCOP products, the Hanoi New Rural Development Program Coordination Office has supported producers with unique, characteristic, and strong products to invest in production to increase the quantity, quality, and spread of products to consumers; focusing on promoting the cultural values ​​of products. In recent times, in parallel with the work of evaluating and classifying products, Hanoi has organized many events to promote and introduce OCOP products, helping businesses and units connect OCOP products with OCOP product introduction and sales points, supermarkets, stores, etc. in Hanoi; helping businesses orient their development strategies, ensuring that they are suitable for the needs and realities of the market. With a population of more than 10 million people and frequent visitors, the Hanoi market has great potential to boost the consumption of agricultural products and OCOP products. Appreciating Hanoi's exploitation of indigenous cultural values ​​and local strengths to develop OCOP products, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that Hanoi is on the right track. Each OCOP product integrates multiple values, containing pride in indigenous cultural values ​​- an important factor distinguishing the value of OCOP products of each region. In the coming time, production and business entities need to innovate packaging design, identify OCOP products, increase added value and quality associated with exploiting indigenous cultural values, creating identity for the product. source: https://hanoimoi.vn/phat-trien-san-pham-ocop-ha-noi-loi-the-tu-von-van-hoa-tri-thuc-ban-dia-675107.html