Strict control of pesticide residues from gardens
Phuc Hoa Early Lychee Production and Consumption Cooperative (Phuc Hoa Commune, Tan Yen District, Bac Giang) has 6 hectares of lychee for export to Japan. In charge of the production team, Mr. Ngo Van Cuong said that the cooperative's expected output is about 300 tons and will start harvesting from June 10, but 10 businesses have contacted to purchase.
According to Mr. Cuong, the most difficult thing about growing lychees for export to Japan is the technique, as pesticides cannot be used indiscriminately. To prevent pests, for many years now, gardeners have collectively bought tons of garlic, chili, and lemongrass to grind and ferment into biological products to spray on lychee trees. This method helps lychees pass many quality inspections, ensuring export quality to Japan and always being ordered early by businesses.
Lychees exported to Japan are carefully cared for and strictly controlled for pesticide residues.
The entire Bac Giang province has 37 lychee growing area codes for export to Japan with an area of over 297 hectares. This year, the output is expected to reach about 2,500 tons. Mr. Dang Van Tang, Head of the Plant Protection Department of Bac Giang province, said that Japan requires the maximum allowable pesticide residue of only 0.01 mg/kg, this is the lowest level and at this threshold, almost no pesticides are detected on lychee. To achieve this standard, the Plant Protection Department of Bac Giang province regularly recommends that farmers do not use pesticides on the list and ensure the quarantine period. "10-15 days before harvest, gardeners are not allowed to use any pesticides," Mr. Tang said.
According to Mr. Tang, in previous years, there were some shipments that did not meet the standards for pesticide residues, so businesses had to stop exporting. To control the quality of lychees exported to Europe, the US and Japan, every year the Plant Protection Department of Bac Giang province takes samples for analysis and screening, assessing risks before the harvest. Then, 7 days and 2 days before harvest, quarantine officers continue to take samples to analyze pesticide residue indicators. Exporting businesses also proactively take samples for independent testing, as a control.
"Japan is a demanding market, but if we can do it, farmers will be confident in exporting to other countries. Lychee exports to Japan are not much, but they have a good ripple effect, enhancing the reputation and brand of lychee," said Mr. Tang.
Promoting lychee marketing in Japan
Mr. Ta Duc Minh, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Japan, said that lychee has great potential to enter the Japanese market. Since 2022, the Japan Fruit International Exchange Association has coordinated with the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan to implement a project to promote the export of fresh lychee from Vietnam , which has been supported by many Japanese people.
"The project aims to support Vietnamese farmers in consuming lychees in Japan, through contributing funds to the project, such as an advance payment to buy lychees. This year the project aims to raise 300,000 yen, but so far over 575,000 yen has been sent to the project coordination group," said Mr. Minh.
However, in terms of promoting and marketing this specialty fruit, Vietnam is still behind Thailand and China. When new fruits are imported into Japan, businesses and production localities in Thailand and China coordinate to organize large-scale communication campaigns through various forms such as promoting at fairs, trade promotion seminars, giving away free products, inviting consumers to try them out, and even making videos and promotional trailers to be broadcast in restaurants and supermarkets.
In recent years, Vietnam has also promoted lychee through conferences with the participation of trade counselors. In particular, Bac Giang and Hai Duong coordinated with a number of businesses and the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan to organize free lychee giveaways at the Vietnam Festival in Japan. Most recently, in 2021, a domestic export enterprise through the trade office sent lychee samples to Japan as gifts for politicians and partners of the Embassy and the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan for them to try.
Japanese experts come to Vietnam to supervise lychee export
According to Japan's requirements, exported fabrics must be treated with fumigation and disinfection technology and supervised by Japanese experts. During the 2 years of the Covid-19 pandemic, Japan authorized the Plant Protection Department to directly supervise. But this year, Japan sent plant quarantine experts back to Vietnam to directly supervise and certify export shipments. We have received official notice that on June 2, Japanese experts will come to Vietnam to supervise fabric exports.
Mr. Hoang Trung (Director of Plant Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development)
However, Mr. Minh commented that the promotion of lychee in Japan is currently only at the level that the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan can directly implement. But in order for lychee to have a greater resonance and spread widely among Japanese consumers, lychee growing localities and exporting enterprises should directly implement it more strongly and on a larger scale at events in Japan. More importantly, it is necessary to organize annual promotional activities to sustain the presence of lychee in Japan, not just in the first 1-2 years of this fruit appearing on the market.
"Lychee exporting enterprises should focus on investing and promoting communication activities, advertising and introducing brands, product quality and agricultural products in the Japanese market," said Mr. Minh.
For fruits like lychee that have a short shelf life, businesses should invest in post-harvest preservation technology and build cold supply chains to keep lychee quality stable during transportation and distribution.
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