Long An agricultural products reach out to the world

High-quality lime material areas are gradually expanding in the province

Exporting limes to the Middle East

Implementing the program for developing high-tech agriculture on lime trees, up to now, the entire Ben Luc district, Long An province has 426 hectares of limes applying high technology.

Currently, the connection between the "4 houses" in the district is increasingly tight, helping to improve the quality and output of seedless lemons.

Long An seedless limes are now not only famous domestically but also conquering the markets of Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Director of Ben Luc Agricultural Service Cooperative (Luong Hoa commune, Ben Luc district) - Tran Duy Thuan said that The Fruit Republic Can Tho One Member Cooperative signed a contract to consume all products of the cooperative with an area of ​​100 hectares for export to Middle Eastern and European countries. Currently, seedless limes from Ben Luc district are popular with foreigners and are often used to prepare dishes or refreshments.

“After more than 1 year of penetrating the Middle East market, the cooperative's transaction office at the Dubai wholesale market has been put into operation. This wholesale market is where most imported agricultural products, including lime products from other countries, are gathered for transit to localities in the UAE and some neighboring countries,” added Mr. Tran Duy Thuan.

Mr. Phan Thanh Liem was sent by the cooperative to Dubai (United Arab Emirates - UAE) to be in charge of this representative office.

His main job is to be present at the Dubai wholesale market every morning to survey the demand for agricultural products and spices in the Middle East.

Being at the market helps Mr. Liem promptly grasp information, thereby being flexible and proactive in negotiating prices with partners and then reporting to the cooperative.

Since the office was established, Ben Luc Agricultural Service Cooperative has directly traded and exported to Dubai wholesale market from 8-10 containers per month, each container containing 24 tons of limes. It is known that not only limes but the cooperative also flexibly brings other agricultural products to the Middle East such as dragon fruit, coconut, guava, etc.

Le Van Nam, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Luc district, informed: "Many businesses have joined forces with farmers in the district to create seedless lime products that meet food safety standards such as Hai Au Farm, Hoang Kim Vietnam Import-Export Company Limited - Long An branch, The Fruit Republic Can Tho One Member Cooperative, Ben Luc Agricultural Service Cooperative, etc. In early July 2024, the Department of Intellectual Property issued a Certificate of Geographical Indication and the certification mark "Ben Luc - Long An". This is good news for lime growers because the certificate of geographical indication is the "passport" for limes to access and conquer export markets, thereby increasing the value of limes and improving income for lime growers".

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province currently has more than 11,300 hectares of limes, concentrated in the districts of Ben Luc, Thu Thua, Duc Hoa, Duc Hue and Thanh Hoa. The annual fruit output is about 180,000 tons.

The province has built more than 3,700 hectares of limes using high technology and more than 664 hectares of limes have been granted GAP certification.

Along with that, the province has 41 growing area codes, 31 packing facility codes and 1 geographical indication for Ben Luc - Long An seedless limes.

Exporting processed agricultural products

In addition to exporting fresh agricultural products, in recent times, the provincial functional sector has actively connected trade and sought markets for the province's processed agricultural products such as dried dragon fruit, dried jackfruit, dried sweet potatoes, etc.

With the advantage of specializing in exporting fresh fruits, in 2022, Vinagrin Import Export Co. Ltd. (Chau Thanh district) invested in additional vacuum frying and freezing technology to diversify products.

Each month, the company exports about 25-30 containers of products, of which dried jackfruit, dried banana and dried coconut are popular in the European market.

In the future, the company will implement an online sales program and supply to convenience stores and supermarkets in the country.

Dried jackfruit products of Vinagrin Import Export Company Limited (Chau Thanh District) are favored by customers in the European market

Director of Vinagrin Import Export Company Limited - Le Thanh Nhan shared: “When we first started making deeply processed products, we encountered obstacles in terms of technology, market and customers. In addition, farmers' habit of using pesticides in production is also one of the barriers in finding clean raw materials. Therefore, the company plans to cooperate with farmers and cooperatives to produce clean products that meet VietGAP, GlobalGAP standards, etc to avoid the situation of agricultural products containing pesticide residues”.

Determining that investing in technology in processing and preserving agricultural products after harvest is one of the key factors, HG Food Joint Stock Company (Thu Thua District) strives to develop oil-free crispy dried fruit products, aiming at an effective solution to increase the value of agricultural products.

To produce crispy dried agricultural products, retain their natural flavor, and not use cooking oil or preservatives, HG Food Joint Stock Company has invested in a modern drying line, researching and processing many products suitable for each customer group. Since then, the value of agricultural products has increased by about 200% compared to raw products.

HG Food Joint Stock Company (Thu Thua district) workers arrange sliced ​​dragon fruit on drying trays

Deputy Director of HG Food Joint Stock Company - Ho Triet Hung said: "Up to now, the HG oil-free crispy dried fruit product line is a typical rural industrial product at the regional level. In particular, all 6 products of the company (mainly bananas, jackfruit, pineapples, and mangoes dried crispy without oil) are certified as 4-star OCOP products. These products have been exported, penetrating demanding markets, mainly the US, part of Europe and starting to expand to the Middle East as well as East Asia".

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development - Nguyen Thanh Truyen informed: "With diverse and good quality agricultural products, favorable land and climate conditions, etc, in recent times, the provincial Department of Agriculture has coordinated with localities to plan and accelerate the progress of building raw material areas to serve the processing and export industry".

The provincial functional departments have been promoting market forecasting activities, linking with businesses, promoting trade to expand consumption; at the same time, creating new motivation for farmers and businesses to invest more effectively in production, contributing to bringing the province's agricultural products to the world./.

By Minh Tue - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/nong-san-long-an-vuon-ra-the-gioi-a181855.html