Effectiveness of VietGAP standard in agricultural production

Clean and safe agricultural production under VietGAP standard is an indispensable development trend of our agriculture. The application of production processes towards ensuring food quality, safety, environmental safety and traceability is one of the necessary steps to contribute to raising production value and protecting the environment.

Nguyen Van Ty is with his mangosteen orchard at Thanh Tuyen Commune in Dau Tieng District. Photo: Quynh Nhien

VietGAP applied in various farms

In 2014, the provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 11/2014/QD-UBND on a number of policies to support the application of good agricultural production practices in agriculture, forestry and fishery in the province. (referred to as Decision No. 11). Subjects and products subject to this Decision are organizations, individuals and households who are engaged in the production and preliminary processing of assorted agricultural, forestry and/or fishery products on the list of products to be supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) regulations and the list of specific products issued by the provincial People’s Committee.

In implementation of Decision No. 11, DARD has instructed the provincial Sub-Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquatic Product Quality Assurance to assist farms that are qualified to apply good agricultural practices or VietGAP standards in production. Producers will be provided with 100% of funding for basic surveys, topographical surveys and identification of areas eligible for concentrated agricultural, forestry and fishery production. At the same time, they are supported for not more than 50% of the total investment capital for the construction, rehabilitation of roads, irrigation systems, pumping stations, low-voltage electricity, waste treatment systems, water supply and drainage systems in production areas to meet VietGAP technical requirements. In addition, training courses for managers and technical farmers on how to apply VietGAP in production and preliminary processing of safe products are also organized regularly helping farmers have higher awareness and understanding of VietGAP procedures.

Dinh Thien Thuan, Head of provincial Sub-Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquatic Product Quality Assurance said that over the 3 years of implementation of Decision No. 11, thirty seven farms were supported to build VietGAP certification with the amount of over VND 1.6 billion. Up to now, 66 farms have been certified with VietGAP, of which 42 are farming farms and 24 are breeding farms. According to the development orientation of the agricultural sector, by 2020 there will be about 180 farms applying for VietGAP in agricultural production, accounting for 20% of total farms in the province.

Chien Thang Farm at Tam Lap Commune in Phu Giao District constructed in 2000 has been producing as a model farm on a total area of over 300 hectares of hi-tech agriculture in the breeding and cultivation. The farm has 40 hectares of grapefruit, 40 hectares of lime, 20 hectares of bananas and some fruit trees under VietGAP production, which is monitored closely in all stages of fertilizer use, pesticides and harvest. As a result, the farm products of such standardized farm are safe and of high productivity. The yield of pomelos is more than 10 tons a ha, non-seed lemons more than 50 tons a ha, and banana over 15 tons a ha.

Nguyen Duc Thang, owner of Chien Thang Farm, said that with the support from DARD, the farm has successfully applied the clean production process and obtained VietGAP certification. Thanks to that and in addition to supplying a number of shops, supermarkets, wholesale markets, the farm's products have been signed by partners in Ho Chi Minh City to purchase for exportation to Korea, Middle East, and Europe.

Stable income created

Determining agricultural production under the VietGAP process as the most efficient and sustainable way of investment, the whole area of ​​green pomelos of Nguyen Thanh Thuy Co., Ltd. of over 34 hectares in Long Nguyen commune of Bau Bang District has been administered with VietGAP process by Nguyen Thanh Thuy. The area of ​​pomelos makes use of micro fertilizers, manure and compost along with plant caring method in the direction of biology with careful inspection and monitoring in the process of care, preservation and packaging under the VietGAP model. Currently, the market of products of Nguyen Thanh Thuy Co., Ltd is mainly in Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and exported to some countries such as Holland and Czech Republic with output more than 200 ton a year. With high yield and stable output, the company's annual revenue reached over VND 15 billion.

With technical support from the Provincial Agricultural Encouragement Center, mangosteen orchard with an area of 1.5 ha was invested by Nguyen Van Ty, a farmer from Thanh Tuyen commune in Dau Tieng district according to the production process of VietGAP. Tu said that on average, his orchard yields 6 to 8 tons for about VND 40,000 to 50,000 per kg, bringing his family a few hundred million of VND per year, higher than other crops and fruit trees.

From the policy of supporting agricultural production in the direction of applying high technology, good agricultural production, many farms in the province have invested in producing under VietGAP standards, supplying large quantities of agricultural commodities. The market for and formation of concentrated production areas have contributed to increase the value of the agricultural sector of the province.