In that situation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has just organized a conference on trade promotion with the Vietnamese trade office system abroad with the theme "Promoting seasonal agricultural product exports" to help localities and businesses connect trade and expand consumption markets.
Pressure to consume in the main seasonAccording to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 5 months of 2024, the country's agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover reached 24.14 billion USD, up 21% over the same period in 2023, of which fruits and vegetables reached 2.59 billion USD, up 28.1%. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh - Chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said: Fruits and vegetables are highly seasonal goods. These are products with very short preservation times.
After harvest, fruits and vegetables are constantly transforming to continue the natural growth process. If they are not processed in time, do not have appropriate preservation technology, storage facilities and do not have a place to consume, they will be damaged, causing great damage. However, at present, the infrastructure and services for harvesting, preserving and storing of localities and enterprises are still weak and lacking. Therefore, the pressure on the consumption market is very large.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 5 months of 2024, the country's agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover reached 24.14 billion USD, an increase of 21% over the same period in 2023, of which vegetables and fruits reached 2.59 billion USD, an increase of 28.1%.
Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Giang province, Tran Quang Tan, said: In 2024, the province's lychee output is forecast to reach nearly 100,000 tons. The lychee harvest time starts from May 20 and ends at the end of July 2024.
Since the beginning of the year, with the support of the departments and offices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Trade Counselor, and the Vietnamese Trade Office abroad; the central and local ministries and branches, Bac Giang province has promoted exchanges and cooperation with the authorities, functional agencies, and enterprises of countries and territories such as China, the US, Japan, the European Union (EU) ...; regularly contacted wholesale markets, trade centers, and large supermarkets in the country to connect and promote the consumption of lychees. Up to now, in the province, the harvest and consumption are starting to take place very actively; the selling price of lychees ranges from 25,000 to 70,000 VND/kg.
Meanwhile, in Binh Thuan province, seasonal agricultural products focus on dragon fruit. The output of dragon fruit from June to September is estimated at about 170,000 tons. In the first months of 2024, the demand for domestic and export fruit is high, so the price of dragon fruit has increased. At times, the purchase price at the garden is from 20,000-21,000 VND/kg, so farmers make a profit. However, it is forecasted that the price of dragon fruit will decrease when entering the main season and coinciding with the harvest time of China. Currently, China is the main consumer market of dragon fruit in Binh Thuan and Vietnam, but China also has a dragon fruit growing area equivalent to Vietnam and is continuing to expand, concentrated in provinces bordering Vietnam such as: Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan... and has a harvest season from May to November, not much different from the main harvest time of Binh Thuan dragon fruit.
This is also the harvest season of Chinese fruits such as oranges, tangerines, apples, pears, grapes, etc., so at this time, Binh Thuan dragon fruit has to compete with both dragon fruit and Chinese fruits. Therefore, consumption is often slow, prices tend to decrease; in the future, consumption will be even more difficult. Meanwhile, promoting dragon fruit exports to the European market, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, etc. is still slow because the province's enterprises mainly process or sell dragon fruit to other enterprises for export.
Regulate product quantity and open market
According to the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Giang province, the annual difficulties and obstacles in lychee export due to local congestion at Tan Thanh border gate, Lang Son province and Kim Thanh border gate, Lao Cai province have been gradually resolved. The province is also continuing to implement steps to irradiate lychees exported to the US at the Hanoi Irradiation Center; at the same time, supporting businesses and cooperatives in Bac Giang province to connect, approach, negotiate and sign cooperation agreements to export lychees to other international markets.
Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Binh Thuan province, Bien Tan Tai, said that in order to better exploit the potential of the Chinese market, it is necessary to study to reduce seasonality in agricultural production such as spreading out crops and off-season crops to increase competitiveness and increase profits.
For distant markets, invest more in post-harvest technology, machinery, equipment, harvesting, preservation and transportation vehicles suitable for fruit and vegetable products to reduce the rate of damage; invest in high-tech warehouses to store fruit and vegetables longer to regulate the amount of products entering the market during the main season or when there are difficulties in consumption; encourage investment in agricultural processing industry to reduce the proportion of fresh and raw exports...
According to Do Ngoc Hung, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, compared to other countries exporting to the US, Vietnam's seasonal agricultural products face a number of difficulties and challenges such as: Short harvest time, fresh products spoil quickly; long geographical distance increases transportation time and costs; competition from South American and Asian markets with the same products; limited preservation technology, products undergoing irradiation have temperature changes so they cannot maintain their original quality, freshness is greatly reduced after the goods arrive at the port; domestic production scale is still small, making it difficult to meet the quantity and requirements of importers.
Therefore, to bring products to the US, it is necessary to increase the added value of seasonal fruits by adding processed products such as dried fruits, fruit powders, canned products for year-round consumption; apply new technologies to help prolong the shelf life of fruits, for example, technology to put fruits into a state of hibernation, preserve living cells, use biological products, film, permitted preservatives... In addition, the authorities need to develop a master plan to implement a systematic, synchronous, highlighted and persistent promotion and trade promotion of seasonal fruits; build stories associated with fruits, exploit real images of growing areas, organize booths to introduce products at Vietnamese and Asian markets...
According to nhandan.vn
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