Creating a bridge for agricultural product consumption in Me Linh district

The forum is an opportunity for production households and cooperatives to connect with units and enterprises to bring safe agricultural products to the supermarket system and clean food stores in Hanoi and many other provinces and cities.

The forum attracted a large number of farmers, cooperatives, businesses and managers to participate. Photo: Pham Hung

Deputy Director of Hanoi Agricultural Extension Center Doan Duc Dan said: The forum was organized not only to remove difficulties in consuming agricultural products for farmers and cooperative farm owners in Me Linh district, but also to introduce and promote Me Linh's key agricultural products and specialties to businesses, distribution units and agricultural product consumers nationwide.

Thereby, exchanging and seeking support from all levels, sectors and localities in promoting agricultural product consumption; providing information, encouraging production expansion, attracting investment, and applying scientific and technical advances to agricultural production in the district.

Many typical agricultural products that meet OCOP standards of Me Linh are displayed within the framework of the forum. Photo: Pham Hung

According to Nguyen Thi Chinh, Director of the Agricultural Service Center of Me Linh District, the entire Me Linh District currently has nearly 8,100 hectares of agricultural land, of which 4,300 hectares are rice, the rest are vegetables, flowers, and fruit trees. Me Linh's agricultural products are very diverse in types; the strengths are 700 hectares of vegetables (off-season kohlrabi, herbs, leafy vegetables, radishes, etc.); 800 hectares of flowers, 300 hectares of bananas. However, the consumption market for agricultural products is still unstable, depending on traders purchasing at markets around the area.

With the desire to expand the consumption market for safe fruit products, Director of Viet Doanh Agricultural Service Cooperative Dao Viet Dung said: The Cooperative is cultivating more than 54 hectares of fruit trees (guava, grapefruit, dragon fruit...) all produced according to VietGAP process. The Cooperative's fruit products have brands and traceable origins, so output is no longer a concern. In particular, the Cooperative's guava has a very high economic value, supplying the market with an average of more than 1 ton of guava every day, earning 20 million VND.

"However, in the long term, to maintain and further improve production efficiency, the cooperative wishes to cooperate with units and enterprises to expand production scale as well as consumption output." - Mr. Dao Viet Dung expressed.

Concerned about finding a sustainable outlet for vegetables, tubers and fruits, Director of Dong Cao Agricultural Service Cooperative (Trang Viet Commune, Me Linh District) Dam Van Dua shared: the cooperative's vegetable, tubers and fruits growing area of over 200 hectares is one of the largest vegetable granaries in Hanoi. Not only does it supply a large quantity of vegetables, tubers and fruits to the people of the capital, the quality of agricultural products has also been gradually improved.

Harvesting vegetables in Dong Cao village, Trang Viet commune (Me Linh district).

Up to now, Dong Cao General Service Cooperative has had 18 products awarded stars by the OCOP Product Evaluation and Classification Council of Hanoi City. Of which, white radish was granted a 4-star OCOP certificate, the rest are 3-star products. Although the variety of vegetables, tubers and fruits is relatively diverse, the economic value of the Cooperative's OCOP products is not commensurate. The reason is that the Cooperative's vegetables, tubers and fruits are mainly exported raw, there are no products that have been deeply processed; some linkage chains are not really stable and sustainable...

With about 40,000 tons of vegetables and fruits per year, the cooperative hopes to connect with organizations and businesses to bring products to retail systems and supermarket chains in Hanoi and neighboring provinces and cities to minimize the story of "good harvest, low price", or being forced to lower prices by traders.

So that consumption is no longer a concern

According to data from the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the rate of agricultural products consumed through the value chain in the city is still quite low, accounting for just over 10%. Notably, a large number of farmers are still vague or do not understand the value chain correctly, leading to loose and unsustainable links with other actors. Farmers and businesses have not even found a common voice to share benefits and risks in production and business... These are the reasons why agricultural products have been struggling to find outlets in recent times.

Cooperatives of Me Linh district and enterprises signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in consuming agricultural products. Photo: Pham Hung

At the forum, businesses and managers recommended many solutions to build sustainable production and consumption chains for agricultural products, helping farmers increase their income, as well as to reassure and trust units and businesses in the quality of Me Linh agricultural products.

Director of Tam Thanh Safe Food Joint Stock Company Nguyen Thi Van Anh said: agricultural products to enter supermarkets, clean food stores or reach demanding customers require strict standards on food hygiene and safety. In addition to the certificate of eligibility for safe production, enterprises also inspect and evaluate the actual production facilities in terms of output and growing areas before deciding to sign a contract with the manufacturer. Therefore, farmers and cooperatives need to pay special attention to the issue of safe production so that products achieve consistent quality.

According to General Director of Hoa Binh Biotechnology Joint Stock Company Nguyen Ngoc Hung, the company really wants to join hands with Me Linh farmers to produce and consume rice in large-scale fields, but the area must be compact, at least 20 hectares or more, cultivating the same rice variety. Therefore, farmers need to connect more closely by establishing cooperatives, production teams and groups. Farmers only need to do a good job of cultivating and harvesting fresh rice grains to ensure quality, the rest is up to the company.

Receiving the opinions of enterprises, Ms. Nguyen Thi Chinh emphasized: "Right after today's forum, the Agricultural Service Center of Me Linh district will organize a more in-depth conference connecting producers with enterprises. The center will also conduct an assessment, synthesize the scale, output, and quality of growing areas with specific numbers to send to enterprises for research and planning in advance."

At the forum, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Viet Doanh Agricultural Service Cooperative and Tam Anh Safe Vegetable Production and Trading Cooperative and Eco-Craft Village Tourism Cooperative; Trung Ha Agricultural Service Cooperative and Hanoi Industrial Catering Joint Stock Company; Dong Cao General Service Cooperative and Tam Thanh Safe Food Joint Stock Company.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/tao-cau-noi-tieu-thu-nong-san-huyen-me-linh.html