Promote agricultural products processing to increase competitiveness

Increase the value of agricultural products

In Ben Luc district, in recent years, the production has gradually been implemented in a chain with key crops such as seedless lemon, pineapple, centella asiatica, etc, contributing to improving the quality, value, stabilize input and output for agricultural products. However, the production of farmers is still limited with a small, odd, and unfocused scale, so they often fall into the situation of "good harvest - low price, good price - poor harvest".

Along with that, the products are mainly sold through retail outlets for internal consumption. The profit belongs to traders, while many farmers are not profitable. This is the reason why farmers are not interested in and  afraid to invest in agriculture.

The system of dryers to create lemon powder of Chanh Viet Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company

In order to overcome this situation and find a new direction for farmers, the agriculture sector in Ben Luc district advocated the establishment of cooperative groups, cooperatives and enterprises to support equipment for production and connect agricultural consumption. Up to now, many cooperatives and enterprises in the district have performed well the role of "bridge", helping farmers stabilize agricultural output and feel secure in production. Some products of enterprises and cooperatives are also printed with logos, labels, registered barcodes,etc to put into consumption at large supermarket systems such as AEON, Co.opmart, WinMart,etc as well as export.

According to Chairman of the Directors Board of Chanh Viet Trading and Investment Joint Stock Company (Thanh Loi commune, Ben Luc district) - Nguyen Van Hien, the company currently has a farm of over 150 hectares specializing in producing seedless lemons according to GlobalGAP standard. In addition to fresh lemons, the company also has many processed products such as dried lemon slices/skins, lemon essential oil, honey-soaked lemon slices, lemon juice, salted lemon, pure dragon fruit powder,etc. Most company's products are connected to consumption with domestic and export distribution enterprises.

Workers at Chanh Viet Trading and Investment Joint Stock Company preliminarily process lemons

Despite only engaging in the processing of dried agricultural products for a short time, the products of HG Food Joint Stock Company (Thu Thua district) have quickly dominated the domestic consumer market. Currently, the company produces crispy, oil-free dried fruit products such as dragon fruit, jackfruit, pineapple, sweet potato,etc. Raw materials are supplied directly from agricultural cooperatives in the province.

Director of HG Food Joint Stock Company - Duong Thi Truc Giang said: “The company has invested in a modern drying line to produce crispy dried agricultural products, keeping the natural flavor, without using frying oil and preservative. From these agricultural products, the company researches and processes many suitable products for each customer, which are young children, the elderly, people on a diet,etc. The value of agricultural products has increased by about 200% compared to the original value of raw material”.

Workers of HG Food Joint Stock Company preliminarily process agricultural products before putting them in the dryer

Continue to attract investment

Up to now, the whole province has more than 200 industrial-scale agricultural product processing establishments, exporting agricultural products of the province to many countries and territories, in which, there are high standard markets such as: Europe, America, Japan.

Department of Industry and Trade informed that, in 2022, although the world situation had many uncertainties due to epidemics and wars, with the efforts of enterprises, the province's export turnover reached 6.7 billion USD, an increase of nearly 9% compared to 2021. In which, the export turnover of agricultural products reached 728.13 million USD, accounting for 10.87% of the total export turnover of the province. Specifically, the province's main exporting agricultural products include: rice with a turnover of 370 million USD, an increase of 9.25%; cashew nuts with a turnover of 125 million USD, an increase of 19.6%; vegetables (dragon fruit, lemon, banana,etc) with a turnover of 139 million USD, an increase of 363%;etc.

According to Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development - Nguyen Thanh Truyen, in order to improve the quality as well as increase the competitiveness of agricultural products, the provincial agriculture sector actively advises Provincial People's Committee to issue many mechanisms and policies to support, encourage and attract organizations and enterprises to invest in the processing industry. To promote the processing industry, it is necessary to organize the development of production - processing - consumption linkages in each locality, each region which has large output of agricultural products to ensure raw materials.

Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee directs relevant departments and branches to implement synchronous solutions, creating favorable conditions for enterprises and farmers to have equal and transparent access to land and capital resources; support enterprises to apply science and technology to produce goods; innovate the agricultural growth model; focus on reviewing and adjusting master plans of regions, sectors and each product to promote local advantages, attach planning to market needs, and adapt to climate change. 

“The reorganization of production and the development of appropriate production forms in the direction of cooperation and linkage along the value chain should be promoted to be able to meet the requirements of the export market, towards the goal of sustainable agricultural development", said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Truyen./.

By Bui Tung - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/day-manh-che-bien-nong-san-de-tang-suc-canh-tranh-a152862.html