Vinh Long OCOP products - imbued with local identity

(VLO) Over the years, the OCOP program has become a "launching pad" in the entrepreneurial journey of many entities, contributing to economic development in the direction of increasing the value of local specialty products and creating jobs and increasing income for people in building new rural areas.

Lesson 1: Enhancing local products

After 6 years of implementation with many practical solutions, the "One Commune One Product" (OCOP) program in Vinh Long province has created a strong start-up movement, forming many clean agricultural production areas, applying high technology associated with product value chains, contributing to the restructuring of the rural economy.

Awakening the potential of entrepreneurship

The list of OCOP products is increasingly diverse, rich, of high quality and traceable origin. Many products have beautiful, sophisticated and unique designs, promoting the advantages of local resources and traditional culture with the application of science and technology, are increasingly trusted and highly appreciated by customers for their quality, gradually affirming their value and reputation in the market, increasing revenue...

Mr. Tran Vinh Phu's pandan coconut jam product has just achieved 4-star OCOP.

Born and raised in the countryside of Tan An Luong commune (Vung Liem district) - Mr. Tran Vinh Phu aspires to preserve and spread the agricultural value of Vinh Long land and people through traditional jams made from hometown products.

Vinh Phu said: “Every Tet holiday, my mother often makes jam and sells it at the market. Production is seasonal. I asked myself, it would be a pity if homemade jam is safe and delicious but only appears during Tet, I want jam to appear all year round with a cup of tea to entertain guests.” That is also one of the reasons why after quitting his job in Ho Chi Minh City in 2020, he returned to his hometown to fulfill his ambition.

Also according to Vinh Phu: “My hometown has many types of fruit trees such as coconut, banana, pineapple, papaya, ginger, pineapple... which can be processed into many delicious jams and cakes. This is a favorable condition for me to develop jam products with abundant and close-to-home raw materials”.

With traditional processing methods combined with improvements to improve product quality according to market trends, ensuring food safety and hygiene regulations, products such as coconut jam, star fruit jam, tamarind jam, banana jam... processed by Mr. Phu's facility have created trust for customers and are increasingly popular in the market. "Currently, we have more than 10 types of jam, of which the pandan coconut jam has just achieved 4-star OCOP, with a consumption market of more than 50 provinces and cities nationwide" - Vinh Phu shared.

In the near future, Mr. Phu said he will continue to complete the documents and procedures to register for 3-star OCOP standards for star gooseberry jam products, continue to develop family economy, support jobs and increase agricultural product purchases to process jam, helping local people feel secure in production.

Born and raised in An Giang, Mr. Huynh Phu Loc also has ambitions and desires to increase the value of local products. In 2017, Mr. Loc chose Vinh Long to "start a business" with a high-tech agricultural production model. Currently, Mr. Huynh Phu Loc is the Director of 620 Agricultural Joint Stock Company, specializing in growing vegetables and melons on 2,000m2 in Ward 5 (Vinh Long City).

After reaping the “sweet fruits” of this model, he continued to expand the area to other districts in the province. In particular, the production area with 17 greenhouses growing melons according to VietGAP standards on 4.5 hectares in Tan Thanh commune (Binh Tan district) is the main point. Melons are grown according to standard processes, strictly controlled from the stage of selecting seeds, monitoring the growth process, irrigation water until the melons are harvested. The greenhouse system for growing melons has outstanding advantages in helping to block rain and sun, prevent insects from entering, and proactively provide nutrition. Melons are grown in a nested pattern, so they can be harvested every week.

In 2024, the company's De Mat melon and Huynh Long melon products were certified with 4-star OCOP. "Achieving certification has contributed to increasing the value of melons and gaining more trust from the market. We currently supply products to all provinces and cities across the country with an average output of 800 - 1,000 tons of melons of all kinds each year," said Mr. Loc.

Promoting production along the value chain

As soon as the Government issued Decision 1048/QD-TTg on promulgating the set of criteria for evaluating and classifying products of the "One Commune One Product" (OCOP) program, Vinh Long deployed and organized the implementation. In order to implement continuously and effectively, Vinh Long also issued an implementation plan for the period 2022 - 2025 in the province and specified it in an annual plan. Thereby, over the past time, OCOP has always received a lot of support from departments, organizations, local authorities, especially the attention and participation of people and OCOP subjects in the province.

Cantaloupe products of 620 Agricultural Joint Stock Company are certified with 4-star OCOP.

Along with that, the command and control system has been gradually improved, awareness of the meaning, importance and responsibility for implementing the program at the local level has been raised, specifically through including the OCOP program in the Resolution targets of the Party Congresses at all levels and ensuring criterion No. 13.2 in building advanced new rural communes, criterion 3.3 in building model new rural communes, period 2021 - 2025.

To date, the province has 230 products certified as OCOP, including 2 products with 5 stars; 79 products with 4 stars; 149 products with 3 stars. In 2024 alone, the province has recognized 98 more products, exceeding the plan set out in the program implementation plan, period 2022 - 2025.

According to Mr. Nguyen The Cong - Head of the Department of Rural Development (Department of Agriculture and Environment), the OCOP program has contributed to raising the value of local traditional products. Through the program, many clean agricultural production areas have been formed, applying high technology associated with product value chains, thereby shifting the rural economic structure.

In the coming time, the province will focus on supporting entities to upgrade products, promote OCOP products through e-commerce platforms; at the same time, guide and support economic organizations and production households to expand their scale, create new products to participate in the OCOP program, prioritizing the development of entities that are cooperatives and small and medium enterprises.

Article and photos: TAN TAN - NGOC LIEU

Source: https://baovinhlong.vn/kinh-te/202503/san-pham-ocop-vinh-long-mang-dam-ban-sac-dia-phuong-ff74fae/