Increasing product values

The Thao Moc Linh Agricultural Services Cooperative in An Lac commune (Son Dong district) pursues organic beekeeping. There are more than 1,000 honey colonies in the gardens, but each year the cooperative only produces honey once from May to September, so the quality is better than that of normal ones.

Honey products of the Thao Moc Linh Agricultural Services Cooperative (Son Dong district) are bottled with eye-catching labels.

Dinh Van Thinh, Director of the cooperative, said: "Not only good quality but the cooperative’s bottled honey products also have beautiful and smart designs, worthy being gifts. After half a year of operation with 7 official members and 20 production households, the Thao Moc Linh cooperative has provided more than 5,000 liters of honey for customers in Hanoi, Bac Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City at prices 30 percent higher than the normal ones".

Currently, the price of a liter of the cooperative’s honey is more than 500,000 VND. In July 2018, the cooperative invested more than 500 million VND (21,600 USD) in buying a machine; importing glass bottles and designing stamps, labels and packaging for its products. 

Between now and 2020, the province strives to build labels and packaging for 52 key agricultural products, focusing on eight commodities including Luc Ngan lychee, Yen The hill chicken, Ven village green tea, Luc Ngan orange and grapefruit, Luc Nam custard-apple, Van village wine, Lang Giang mushroom and Chu rice noodles. Total funding is more than 11 billion VND Nguyen Van Phuong, head of the Division of Trade Management (the Department of Industry and Trade)

The honey of the cooperative has been approved by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (the Ministry of Science and Technology) for collective trademark protection. The unit is completing procedures to put its honey into the BIG C supermarket chain.

On this occasion, the Xuan Truong Chu Rice Noodles Cooperative in Thu Duong village, Nam Duong commune (Luc Ngan district, is focusing on producing and packing rice noddle products (white and brown rice noodles) to serve demand during the Lunar New Year (Tet). Pham Xuan Truong, Director of the cooperative, said that Tet is the busiest time of the cooperative. Its members are urgently packing 40 tonnes of noodles for the BIG C supermarket chain. The brown rice noodles are packed in plastic trays with eye-catching designs, serving as gifts. Depending on each market, the prices of the rice noodles have increased by 10-30 percent over the previous time.

Focusing on key agricultural products

Since 2015, with capital from the province’s national industrial promotion fund managed by the Department of Industry and Trade, more than 100 billion VND (4.3 million USD) has been used to support production facilities in purchasing machinery, logo design and product packaging. In 2018, the department provided 11 cooperatives and enterprises with 50 million VND each to print packaging. At the same time, it guided the units to use the smart electronic stamp (VNPT Check) to facilitate customers’ tracing of product origin.

Director of Xuan Truong Chu Rice Noodles Cooperative Pham Xuan Truong (left) introduces one of the unit’s products.

In addition to the general policies of the province, districts and city have their own mechanisms to improve the quality of farm produce in order to gradually access major markets. For example, since 2017, Hiep Hoa district has spent more than 100 million VND from its budget supporting its cooperatives in designing and printing stamps and labels. Among those cooperatives are Dong Tam 3 in Thuong Thang commune and Minh Thinh Vuong in Hung Son commune...

Luc Ngan district has determined trademark protection and branding as the focal task in production development and agricultural consumption. It established a chain for agricultural production and consumption for farmers. Each year, in addition to allocating a budget to support stamp printing and packaging for key farm produce, the locality has also focused on trademark management.

The province has brought 21 agricultural product groups with 108 commodities into the BIG C, Co.op mart, Aeon and Fivimart supermarket chains; the Vinmart retail store chain of Vingroup Group; and major distribution enterprises in Hanoi. Some products (lychee, hill chicken and Chu rice noodle) have been exported to the US, France, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Producers, businesses and cooperatives should continue to promote production links under the value chain and pay attention to labeling and packaging to increase the attractiveness of local agricultural products.

Australian project promotes gender equality in agriculture

The Australian Government-funded “Integrating gender in agricultural value-chain research” project looks to settle gender social constraints, encourage ethnic men and women’s involvement in agricultural value chains, as well as promote the adoption of high-tech application towards a sustainable agriculture.

 

Vietnam attends Global Agriculture Leadership Summit in India

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam is attending the 11th Global Agriculture Leadership Summit in New Delhi, India from November 24-25. 

 

ASEAN works towards innovative agriculture

The Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) opened in Hanoi on October 8 to prepare for the 40th meeting of AMAF, the 18th AMAF+3 and the 6th ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

 

Japan shares experience in developing agriculture

A conference themed ‘Experience in developing agriculture, farmers and rural areas – Lessons learnt from reality’ was held in Hanoi on September 6 by the Vietnam Farmers’ Association (VFA).

 

Vietnam, NZ agriculture ministers talk farm produce improvements

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong asked for New Zealand (NZ)’s support in improving the value of farm produce during a meeting with NZ Minister of Agriculture, Biosecurity, Food Safety, and Rural Communities Damien O’Connor in Hanoi on August 29.

 

Hoang Phuong